Winner: Cold Days by Jim Butcher

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Prize: Hardcover Copy of Cold Days

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Guest Blog & Giveaway: Underneath by Jes Young

UFI welcomes Jes Young Author of The Princess of Twilight and Dawn Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

Unlike your average urban fantasy heroine, I will most likely never be the sole obsession of a powerful Fae prince. If I was going to learn to fly by jumping off a bridge into the arms of my adoring vampire husband, I’d probably be wearing something boring like jeans and a pair of Chuck Taylors, instead of thigh high boots and a leather coat. We don’t have much in common, but it’s the differences between my life and theirs that make these women so fun to read about. When I read, I want the adventure and danger and inappropriate footwear that have no place in my real life.

When I started writing the Princess of Twilight and Dawn series, I discovered that if reading about urban fantasy heroines is fun, writing about them is even better. Every day, when I sit down at my desk, I get to play with magic and danger and power. I get to go on an adventure with a brave Elvish princess and a swoon-worthy prince. And I get to make them kiss whenever I want. (Greetings from my inner control freak.) The best part though has been writing Tab’s transformation from someone who hides from the monsters into someone who stands up to them. Making that chance, in a way that seemed believable, was a challenge in the best possible sense. I tried to make her a mix of the things I love about my favorite kick-ass heroines and the things I love about my friends. She’s brave and funny and loyal and smart and, after a while, she learns to wield a sword, throw a knife, and rock a pair of stilettos. 

My Top 5 Urban Fantasy Heroines:

5. Sookie Stackhouse from the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris: A sentimental favorite. Sookie makes the list because these were the first urban fantasy books I ever read. “Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve dealt out? There’s no profit in it, no point to it, and you need sleep.” 

4. Rachel Morgan from the Hollows series by Kim Harrison: She’s sort of adorably bumbling, isn’t she? I love that about her. “Most of the upper management of I.S. were undead. I always thought it was because the job was easier if you didn't have a soul.” 

3. Cat Crawfield from the Night Huntress series by Jeannine Frost: Cat has a certain snarky charm that I can’t resist, but it’s because of how nicely its balanced by vulnerability that I love her. “Oh, Dracula as well, Annette? I guess if Frankenstein and the Wolf Man were real, they'd already have double-teamed you.” At 

2. Mercy Thompson from the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs: Aside from the whole turning into a coyote thing, Mercy seems like a regular person to me. She’s tough but not invincible. “His arms closed around me, pressing flesh painfully hard against bone. Love hurts like that sometimes.”

1. MacKayla Lane from the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning:  In a lot of ways, Mac was the inspiration for my character Tab. She’s in over her head, she’s soft, and she’s not tough enough to survive—until events change her and suddenly she is. “Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those remarkably rare, addictive ones who just bring out the most. Of everything. They make you feel so alive that you'd follow them straight into hell, just to keep getting your fix.”

So that’s my top five. I’d love it if you’d stop by the comments on your way out to tell me yours, say hello, or ask me a question. Thanks for reading!

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After graduating from Emerson College with a BFA in creative writing, Jes Young was a copywriter at Random House (Ballantine Books and Crown Publishing Group) for nearly ten years. Currently she is the development manager of a small non-profit and the mother of two children under the age of ten. Her writing is done primarily between the hours of 11 p.m and 3 a.m.

Find Jes and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Underneath
Princess of Twilight and Dawn #2

 Six months ago, when her long-hidden heritage came to light, Tab Bennett reluctantly let go of her past and embraced her future as an Elvish princess on the cusp of her gifts and the edge of her destiny. She never wanted a fairy tale life, but as the daughter of the Dark King and the Light Queen, that’s exactly what she got.

Raised in exile away from the kingdom of the Inbetween, Tab has never even met the parents who ruined her life. Her mother is dead, but Tab’s father, Daniel, is alive and well, the mad ruler of the kingdom of the Underneath. He’s made it clear he wants to meet her and now that she knows all the sadness and heartache in her life can be traced directly to the Dark king’s door, Tab wants to meet him too. After all, it's because of him that the first twenty-five years of her life were a lie. It’s his fault she gave her heart to Robbin when she should have been saving it for Alex, the prince who is destined to be her Homecoming. But, most importantly, King Daniel is the one responsible for her mother’s suicide and her sisters’ murders.

Now Tab wants justice – but she’ll settle for revenge and Finnegan Blackthorn, an Elvish warrior with secrets of his own, is going to help her get it. Together, they’ll embark on the dangerous journey to her father’s stronghold in the kingdom Underneath. Once she's there, far away from the Light in which she was raised, Tab will be forced to confront the seductive nature of Darkness and her own potential to truly become her father’s daughter

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Guest Blog & Giveaway: The Quest by Mary Abshire

UFI welcomes Mary Abshire Author of The Quest. Thanks for Joining us!!

What's in a title?

The majority of the time, I create a title for my books before I sit down to write them. On other occasions, I discover the title while I'm writing. Book titles are not difficult to come up with. But a series name can be.

From day one when I started The Awakening, the title was set. The book was easy to name since the protagonist is discovering who and what she is in a world full of supernatural creatures. That's right, who. She's found a dump and she has no memories. Two investigators, one human and one vampire, find her among a mass of dead bodies. They decide to help her and they want to know who murdered so many people and why. They soon learn she doesn't have memories and she's not like any creature. More questions rise, such as: How did she get to be what she is? Who created her? Who took her memories? Why? And the list goes on.

The Awakening is her finding these answers. It's mystery, action, violence, suspense, and everything you like with urban fantasy with supernatural creatures.

But I don't give all the answers in the book. That's right. I had a second one in my head, so I purposely left some questions unanswered. I also had the title ready to go.

The Quest is her journey to get justice for the people murdered and everything taken from her. She knows her name and what she is, but she still doesn't have her memories. The same cast return along with some new ones. As usual, her goal is not an easy one. Especially when the person she's after has put a bounty out for her. Again, I bring mystery, action, violence, and suspense into my urban fantasy world.

The two titles were easy for me to create. But during the editing process, I was asked for a series name. Uh-oh. For once, I couldn't think of the best name for the series. I spent over day trying to think of one. Then, I was in the shower when the title came to me. It fit perfectly…Project Eve. How did I come up with the series title? If you read The Quest, you will discover the answer.

In a nutshell, I had easy titles, then not easy titles. But they all are perfect. Strange how life works at times.

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Author Bio:
Mary lives in Indiana and is a lifetime lover of the paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy. When she's not slaving away at her government job, she is a Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Author. She creates fantastical worlds with vampires, demons, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures. Dive into her books and find action, a dash of mystery, and seductive men with passionate hearts. The Project Eve series is an urban fantasy

Other books by Mary Abshire:
(The Soul Catcher series, paranormal erotic romance)
Claiming the Evil Dead
Catching an Evil Tail
Fighting Evil
Love Conquers All Evil

Find Mary and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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The Quest
The Project Eve Series
 Amazon  Barnes & Noble  iTunes

 Retribution. At any cost.

Now that she knows her name and what she is, she wants justice for everything she's lost. Though her memories elude her, she takes a job for a half-demon Senator and, aided by werewolves from a local clan, intends to uncover evidence that will convict the Senator of more than thirty murders.

Getting to the Senator and finding the necessary evidence is more difficult than she anticipates, especially when there is a bounty for her death. If that were not enough, the vampire who stole her memories returns and reveals unexpected truths. But she's not going to let anything stop her. Not a sadistic assassin or a servant of Lucifer. Not even her ex-lover, the vampire god of the Underworld. Nothing will stop her from claiming retribution...even if the price is her life.

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International 

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Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Fiery Edge of Steel (Noon Onyx, #2) by Jill Archer

Fiery Edge of Steel

Noon Onyx #2

by Jill Archer

Cover Artist: Jason Chan

Publisher: Ace

Date of Publication: May 28, 2013

ISBN-10: 0425257169

ISBN-13: 978-0425257166

Pre-Order links: Amazon   BN   Goodreads "Want to Read"

FIERY EDGE OF STEEL

Lucifer and his army triumphed at Armageddon, leaving humans and demons living in uncertain peace based on sacrifice and strict laws. It is up to those with mixed demon and human blood, the Host, to prevent society from falling into anarchy.

Noon Onyx is the first female Host in memory to wield the destructive waning magic that is used to maintain order among the demons. Her unique abilities, paired with a lack of control and reluctance to kill, have branded her as an outsider from her peers. Only her powerful lover, Ari Carmine, and a roguish and mysterious Angel, Rafe Sinclair, support her unconventional ways.

When Noon is shipped off to a remote outpost to investigate several unusual disappearances, a task which will most likely involve trying and killing the patron demon of that area, it seems Luck is not on her side. But when the outpost settlers claim that an ancient and evil foe has stepped out of legend to commit the crimes, Noon realizes that she could be facing something much worse than she ever imagined…

About the Author:  
 
Jill Archer is the author of Dark Light of Day, the first book in the Noon Onyx series. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jill now lives in rural Maryland with her two children and her husband, who is a recreational pilot. She blogs about books, movies, interesting people, and various weekend adventures.

website/blog: www.jillarcher.com
twitter: @archer_jill
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jillarcherauthor
goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5782149.Jill_Archer

 Tour Wide

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Winner: Tempted by Evil by Amber Lynn Natuch & Shannon Morton

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize:e-copy of Tempted by Evil

The Winner chosen by Rafflecopter is.....

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

Review: Guardians Of Stone by Anita Clenney

Guardians of Stone
Author:Anita Clenney
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Publisher: Montlake Romance
The Relic Seeker Book #1
ISBN:   1612186548
ISBN13: 9781612186542
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Kendall Morgan is a human bloodhound. Spending her childhood hunting relics with her ambitious archeologist father, she knew the two of them shared a sixth sense for the history and location of objects—sometimes even people. What she didn’t know was that their paranormal gift could ultimately be their undoing.

After the tragic plane crash that killed her father as well as her childhood best friend, Kendall dedicated her life to finding and protecting relics. When mysterious, sexy billionaire Nathan Larraby hires her for his latest expedition—the search for four powerful relics —she’s thrown into a world of high-octane danger. He sends brooding mercenary Jake Stone to watch Kendall’s back, but he may have created danger of a different kind.

As the team chases down clues, a man called the Reaper makes a play for the artifacts and will stop at nothing to put them to his own sinister use. What’s worse is that Nathan hasn’t told the whole story, and the dark secrets he’s keeping could cost them the mission…and their lives.

GUARDIANS OF STONE is another one of those books I had never heard about until it showed up in my mailbox.

I liked Kendall, She was easy to connect with and read about. Her ability was neat to witness and it was fun watching her push down most of Jake's sexual attempts. Kendall has a habit of putting herself in more danger then needed but besides that I enjoyed following her character. Jake starts off as a sexist bad boy that ends up being so much more than that. He was a great protector and as a romantic interest brought some nice sexual tension to the story. I still don't fully understand Nathan but I assume that this is what the author wanted. There is a bit of a love triangle between the three but I couldn't tell if Nathan just wants to protect Kendall or if there is more there. I liked all the investigating and searching for the relic. It was well paced out with a nice amount of action and danger in every chapter. Jake and Kendall worked nicely together but pretty much stumbled along until they hit pay dirt most of the time. I agree with some other reviewers that have noted that you often know what will happen before the characters and I agree it can be a bit tiresome at times.

I'm dying to know how the whole childhood best friend angle will play out, I have my suspicions but no real proof one way or another and since it would be a bit of a spoiler I will keep my mouth shut. Hopefully book 2 isnt far behind. GUARDIANS OF STONE was a fun fast paced read with some interesting characters and an entertaining world that I would like to learn more about.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

New Releases: 12/2-12/8

Tue Dec 4

The Accidental Genie (Accidentally Friends, #7) by Dakota Cassidy
Alien vs Alien (Katherine “Kitty” Katt, #6) by Gini Koch
Archangel of Mercy by Christina Ashcroft
Black Moon (Alpha Pack, #3) by J.D. Tyler
The Farm (The Farm, #1) by Emily McKay
Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers, #1) by Anita Clenney
Heart of Atlantis (Warriors of Poseidon, #8) by Alyssa Day
Knight Awakened (Circle of Seven, #1) by Coreene Callahan
Nightbred (Lords of the Darkyn, #2) by Lynn Vielh
Poison (Legacy, #2) by Molly Cochran
Radiant (Unearthly, #2.5) by Cynthia Hand
Reaper's Vow (Shadow Reapers, #2) by Sarah McCarty
Touch of Steel (Clockwork Agents, #2) by Kate Cross

Happy Reading!!