Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Guest Post & Giveaway: Mishap & Retribution by M.M. Shelley

UFI welcomes M.M. Shelley Author of Mishap and Retribution. Thanks for Joining us!!


HI Everyone, I’m M.M. Shelley and I would like to thank UFI for having me as a guest today as I share with you my book; Mishap and Retribution.
 So please pour yourself a cup of your favorite Latte and if you’re at work, hang up your “On Break” shingle as we take five.
         
          Many have asked why the islands of Hawaii are the setting for my fantasy adventure and my response has always been, why not? It’s the perfect place. I was fortunate to spend some time on the islands, and even more that I have made really great friends who have invited me back to stay with them. The people of Hawaii love stories; their culture is filled with some really good ones. Some of them are based on the Hawaiian goddess, Pele.

          Pele plays a major part in Mishap & Retribution; after all it does take place on her islands, so how could I not include her?  A quick note about Pele; she wasn’t actually born on the islands, in the stories told of her she traveled from another Polynesian Island and made them her home.

          As a goddess Pele has had many loves and some of them with mortal men. Sometimes a child or two follow, as the grandmother to cousins Kye and Kana’i, she can be very protective and sometimes over bearing.

Here are a few things you should know about Pele:
*She is the ruler of the Hawaiian Islands
*Fire is her main power; she controls volcanoes and its lava.
*She works everyday to maintain control of the islands over the other gods and goddess and is constantly at war.
__________________________________
 
 
M.M. Shelley is a storyteller, word smith and dreamer. MISHAP AND MAYHEM, a captivating story of faerie's and magic, is her debut novel. She has traveled the world extensively in search of the magic which is often overlooked in every day life. M.M. Shelley is a native of southern California, and a student of mythology from which she gets much inspiration.



__________________________________
Find M.M. Shelley and her books
__________________________________


Mishap & Retribution 
 At the Dawn of Time a curse against Man was made and only Death will satisfy it.

The year is 2045 and twins Grasiella and Tatiana who are Cinerian, Fae and Human must choose a side and may find themselves on different sides of an ancient war.

With Tatiana trapped in the Fae realm and learning what life has been like, she has found herself bonding with the Fae. Grasiella seeking the whereabouts of her twin has come to a crossroads of her own.

Separated and neither knowing the fate of the other, each make their way to an uncertain future.

Death has swept across the Hawaiian Islands and the cost of peace may be too high.
__________________________________

__________________________________
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Giveaway: A Wolf at the Door by K.A. Stewart

**Available from ROC Fantasy Aug 7, 2012**

A Wolf at the Door
Author: K.A. Stewart
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: Roc
Jesse James Dawson Book #3
ISBN:  045146463X
ISBN13: 9780451464637
Genre: Urban Fantasy

STAR STRUCK

Jesse James Dawson was once an ordinary man until he discovered that demons were real, and fighting them meant putting his own soul on the line. His new case is a beauty: Gretchen Keene, a Hollywood starlet who’s become an unwitting catalyst in an all-out demon war. It’s not her soul Jesse needs to protect, but the two-hundred-and-seventy-six others she’s carting around—all the souls sold to spend just one night with the blonde bombshell. That’s a lot of baggage, although it might explain her meteoric rise to fame. And it’s all up for grabs by the demon world.

All Jesse has to do is keep her safe until New Years. Sounds easy. But darkness is casting a nasty shadow in the California sun—a new unseen enemy is closing in and leaving Jesse to wonder, how do you fight something you can’t see coming?

US ONLY
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Releases: 7/22-7/28


Tues July 24

 
Happy Reading!!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Guest Post: Her Loving Husband's Curse by Meredith Allard

UFI welcomes Meredith Allard Author of the Loving Husband series. Thanks for Joining us!!


Thank you for letting me drop by, UFI!

It was a surprise to me when I came up with an idea for a vampire trilogy, especially since I wasn’t that into the paranormal/urban fantasy genre. As I began my journey into the vampire world, having decided to see if there was any meat to this crazy idea of mine about a vampire’s love for his long-dead wife, I noticed that some readers are very particular about how they like their vampires. I’ve seen more than one criticism that vampires these days are too soft. Vampires are bloodthirsty, angry, violent creatures of the night, they say. That’s what vampires have always been, and that’s what they always should be. Fair enough, since we all have our likes and dislikes about what we like to read.

I realized that I had an important decision to make as I was writing both Her Dear & Loving Husband and the second book in the trilogy, Her Loving Husband’s Curse. How violent were my vampires going to be? The main reason I had never been into the vampire genre was because I’m not a fan of violence in any way, shape, or form. I can’t even watch The Real Housewives because their heated arguments are too much for me. I’m not a wimp (well, maybe a bit), but it’s not entertaining to me to see people or animals being hurt. As I was deciding how brutal my vampires would be in their search for blood to drink, I had to consider what violence means to me.

I’m not fascinated by violence. To me, violence is the lowest common denominator. When we’re angry we want to lash out, physically or verbally, whether it’s with loved ones, the barista at Starbucks, at that guy in the gray BMW who cut us off in traffic. To me, giving into violence is weakness because it means I’m letting outside circumstances control my emotions and my behavior. And it seems, as I get older, that it’s becoming more accepted to be mean and rude and angry and violent.

Rising above that violence to be calm and rational, even kind, is an amazing thing, especially since it’s so easy to give into the anger. It takes an extra thought process, an extra determination, to overcome the fury. Now I was onto something. Overcoming our baser instincts to be better than we are. That fascinates me. And that’s the journey we’re all on—struggling to be better today than we were yesterday.

That is also the journey that James Wentworth, the vampire protagonist in Her Dear & Loving Husband and Her Loving Husband’s Curse, is on—being better than he was. Is he violent? He can be. But he’s working toward being more human than some humans. His motto is “Live and let live.” It’s a motto I try to live by as well.
__________________________________
Meredith Allard is the Executive Editor of The Copperfield Review,  an award-winning literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from California State University, Northridge. She has taught writing to students aged 10 to 60, and she has taught creative writing and writing historical fiction workshops at Learning Tree University, UNLV, and the Las Vegas Writers Conference. Her writing has appeared in journals such as The Paumanok Review,  Moondance, Wild Mind,Muse Apprentice Guild, The Maxwell Digest, CarbLite, Writer’s Weekly, and ViewsHound. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
__________________________________
Find Meredith and her books
__________________________________
Her Loving Husband's Curse
Loving Husband #2
 How far will you go to protect the one you love?

Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth’s life is falling into place. Together with his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago.

But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?
__________________________________

__________________________________

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Week in Review- 7/15-7/21


Books Ive Bought/received


* Demon Hunting in the Deep South by Lexi George-eARC-Netgalley

* Kindred by Jessica Redmerski-eARC- Author

* Starling by Lesley Livingston- ARC- Publisher

* Two Weeks Notice by Rachel Caine- Publisher

* Covet by Melissa Darnell-eARC- Netgalley

* Ironskin by Tina Connolly-eARC- Netgalley

* The City's Son by Tom Pollock-eARC- Netgalley

* Outpost by Ann Aguirre- ARC- Publisher

Books I Read

Biting Cold by Chloe Neill
Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway
Two Weeks Notice by Rachel Caine
Kindred by J.A. Redmerski
Kept by Shawntelle Madison
Primal Possession by Katie Reus

Reviews Posted

Shades of Desire by L.M. Pruitt
Blood Lust Rising by Fayth Devlin
Rogue's Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy
Her Loving Husband's Curse by Meredith Allard

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

* Tuesday there was a guest post for author L.M. Pruitt's Shades of Desire blog tour. 

* Wedneday Jennifer Turner was here promoting her new book Redemption with a guest post and giveaway.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 
*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.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Review: Her Loving Husband's Curse by Meredith Allard

Her Loving Husband's Curse
Author: Meredith Allard
Release Date: April 20, 2012
Publisher: Copperfield Press
Loving Husband Book #2
ISBN:   0615613683
ISBN13: 9780615613680
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Bewitching Book Tours

How far will you go to protect the one you love?

Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth’s life is falling into place. Together with his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago.

But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?

Her Loving Husband’s Curse is Book Two of the Loving Husband Trilogy. Book One, Her Dear & Loving Husband, is now available from Copperfield Press.

The crap really hits the fan in HER LOVING HUSBAND'S CURSE as Kenneth Hempell's wish comes to pass. Meredith did a great job of bringing the past into the present with her researched history, retelling of past events and the addition of prejudiced/bigoted beliefs that fill the world not only now but back then.

I really enjoyed HER DEAR AND LOVING HUSBAND and was really excited to have the chance to read book 2. Although I didn't feel book 2 was as good I still enjoyed the continuation of Sarah and James' journey together. I really enjoy the love that they show each other and all the friends that help them along the way. Although Sarah and James are very much in love and growing stronger as a couple I wish it wasn't so odd that James was holding back his experience on the Trail of Tears. After everything they have been through it seemed like a small thing for him to keep from her or be scared to share with her. I loved the addition of Grace but it was a bit weird how it happened, its just not that easy in the real world. There were quite a bit of instances where I felt the story was really slow or I had to push myself to keep reading certain passages about the Trail of Tears. Another odd moment was when Sarah's ex-husband stopped in for a visit, it didn't bring anything to the story for me.

The ending was extremely rough and I was absolutely heartbroken to have to see that happen. I am dying to know what will happen in book 3 and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be good news by the end. 

I gave it 3/5 stars 

Friday, July 20, 2012

Review: Rogue's Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy

Rogue's Pawn
Author: Jeffe Kennedy
Release Date: July 16, 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Covenent of Thorns Book #1 
ISBN139781426894060
Genre: Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Netgalley

This is no fairy tale…

Haunted by nightmares of a black dog, sick to death of my mind-numbing career and heart-numbing fiancé, I impulsively walked out of my life—and fell into Faerie. Terrified, fascinated, I discover I possess a power I can't control: my wishes come true. After an all-too-real attack by the animal from my dreams, I wake to find myself the captive of the seductive and ruthless fae lord Rogue. In return for my rescue, he demands an extravagant price—my firstborn child, which he intends to sire himself…

With no hope of escaping this world, I must learn to harness my magic and build a new life despite the perils—including my own inexplicable and debilitating desire for Rogue. I swear I will never submit to his demands, no matter what erotic torment he subjects me to…

The opening line of the summery is definitely right on, This is no Fairy Tale. In fact a good portion of the first half of the book was depressing to have to witness.

It took a while for the story to take off. The beginning really didn't give any clues as to where the story might go or the whole point of what was happening. When Jennifer finally was sent into faery it still seemed to take a while to get the point of things but the scenery was quite nice. There were some interesting characters and creatures thrown into the story and I really only disliked a few of them that you are pretty much expected to dislike. There are some things that I wish would have been explained more like why Jennifer was now Gwynn (besides just saying that was what Rogue picked), and why she is pretty much a slave but still treated as royalty by most people (What gives her, her status exactly) Maybe I just missed it?. There is a ton of things happening in the story but the pace was all out of whack for the most part. There is a lot of world building and I did enjoy about every aspect of Jeffe Kennedy's idea of Faerie.

ROGUE'S PAWN was definitely unique. Even having said all that I was still interested in seeing what would happen next and I'm still interested in seeing what happens to the characters in the future. 

I gave it 3/5 stars