Tue. Feb. 9th
Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard
Morning Star (Red Rising #3) by Pierce Brown
Reign of Shadows (Reign of Shadows #1) by Sophie Jordan
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
Promo + Giveaway: Darkness Raging By Yasmine Galenorn
Darkness RagingOtherworld/Sisters of the Moon #18
The New York Times bestselling author of Panther Prowling returns to the Otherworld where one of the D’Artigo sisters faces a terrifying challenge that’s more personal than she ever could have imagined.__________________________________
We're the D'Artigo sisters: savvy half-human, half-Fae ex-operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. My sister Camille is a wicked-good witch. Delilah is a two-faced werecat and a Death Maiden. And me? I'm Menolly, a vampire married to a gorgeous werepuma. As the war in Otherworld arrives, Blood Wyne, Queen of the Vampires, summons me. Apparently, my position as Roman's consort entails more than I imagined...
As the Demon Lord Shadow Wing creates his own sinister version of the Keraastar Knights—the guardians of the spirit seals—to destroy the portals and free himself from the Sub Realms, his ally, the necromancer Telazhar, leads an assault from Otherworld into the streets of Seattle. And my sisters and I are caught dead center.
Then, on the eve of war, my wife, Nerissa, is captured. The enemy demands we surrender the rest of the spirit seals, or they are going to kill her. I will do anything to save her. Even if it means leading an army of vampires into the very depths of the Subterranean Realms...
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Cover Reveal: The Rise of Genesis by M.R. Merrick
Announcing a new book by M.R. Merrick!
Tryst Rivera is a Succubus and veteran at the Academy, a facility tasked with converting underage Supernaturals into cooperative ATOM soldiers. She’s endured her time mostly unscathed, but when Ash arrives and their lives are tethered to one another, she’s placed in immediate danger.
With escape at the forefront of his mind, Ash struggles with the idea of life under ATOM’s thumb. He’ll die before he converts, but his life isn’t the only one he’s responsible for, and he already has more blood on his hands than he can bear. When a chance for freedom arises, Ash needs to decide how much—and who—he’s willing to risk for a second chance.
Coming March 15, 2016
About the Author
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Sunday, February 7, 2016
Week in Review: 1/31-2/6
Books Received for Review
Wedding Bells, Magic Spells by Lisa Shearin
Demon Kissed by Karilyn Bentley
Books I've Read
Demon Lore by Karilyn Bentley
Firstlife by Gena Showalter
Demon Kissed by Karilyn Bentley
Thorne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Reviews Posted
Windburn by Shannon Mayer
Wickedly Powerful by Deborah Blake
Grave Visions by Kalayna Price
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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?
* Wednesday- Promo + Giveaway for Blood In Her Veins by Faith Hunter
* Thursday- Promo + Giveaway for Winterwood by Jacey Bedford
* Friday- Promo + Giveaway for The Deepest Well by Juliette Cross
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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?
* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?
You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.
* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Review: Grave Visions by Kalayna Price
Grave Visions
Author: Kalayna Price
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Roc
Alex Croft Book #4
ISBN: 045141657
ISBN13: 9780451416575
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: PublisherGrave Visions by Kalayna Price is the much-anticipated fourth installment in the kick-ass urban fantasy series about Alex Craft, a grave witch who can communicate with the dead.
If you want to hear voices from the dead in Nekros City, you call Alex Craft. She's a Grave Witch with reasonable rates and extraordinary powers, who specializes in revealing the secrets of the dead. But now she's the one fighting to keep her own secret. She's not human—and her newly discovered heritage is causing havoc for her both in the human realm and in Faerie. But her status as an unaffiliated fae also makes her an ideal candidate to investigate a new street drug that has surfaced in several of the spaces between the human and fae worlds.
This glamour-infused drug causes hallucinations that turn real—at least for a while and often with deadly consequences. Searching for the source of this drug—and its purpose—lands Alex front and center in the conflict brewing in Faerie and she must find answers before she's dragged so deep she loses her freedom.
It has been a REALLY long time since book three, GRAVE MEMORY, came out (four years to be exact). I was worried that I would be totally lost when I jumped into GRAVE VISIONS because of the length of time, but besides a few things that had me searching my memory a little harder than normal I had no trouble jumping right back into the storyline.
Alex has always been kept on her toes and GRAVE VISIONS is no different. I was exhausted reading about how exhausting her hectic life is at the moment. Surprisingly only two weeks have passed in Alex's life since the end of GRAVE MEMORY and things are still raw in her mind. A surprise call from someone at the police station brings her into a case that ends up connecting to a problem that is affecting the Winter court and she is getting pressure to solve the case on both sides. Not only that, but the fact that she hasn't yet aligned herself with a court is causing her and those tied to her to fade away. She is racing against the clock in many ways and it was truly a great ride.
After GRAVE VISIONS I am no longer into Alex's relationship with Death. He no longer seems to fit into Alex's life and I just didn't feel the spark that was present in previous books. Falin on the other hand.... I know Alex can't fully trust him and that's a problem, I just feel like they are a great team. If Falin could get out from under the Winter Queen's hand, I think they could have a really great shot. I don't see that happening though. Isn't it amazing how going in with four years between books makes you change your mind? I'm not sure if I would feel differently if I had re-read the previous books before reading GRAVE VISIONS. On another note, Alex sure is getting quite popular with the guys. Everyone seems to want a piece of her and I am really loving her reactions.
So, I really enjoyed GRAVE VISIONS. It was everything I was hoping for, but I am hesitant to get too excited for the future. I see that book six has been added to Goodreads, but so far there isn't a title or a release date. Will it come out before another four years passes? I sure hope so.
I gave it 5/5 stars
* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Promo + Giveaway: The Deepest Well by Juliette Cross
The Deepest Well is the first book in a new urban fantasy trilogy that is an
offshoot of the popular Vessel Trilogy series.
The Deepest WellAge of Gray #1
Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo iBooks
Lady Katherine Blakely is married to a monster. On the same night she witnesses how low her husband can sink, she meets a charming stranger, a gentleman from top to toe. Yet even her gallant rescuer is possessed of a dark side.“The characters, story line, and setting are all wonderful. I enjoyed it from the first word and didn’t put it down until I was done. I can’t wait for Juliette Cross to release the next book so we can see where Jude and Genevieve go from here.”
Lord George Draconis Thornton, commander of the Dominus Daemonum, is on a mission to expel the demon prince Damas back to the underworld. But a golden-haired beauty derails his plans and stirs an attraction he’s never felt before, not even for his centuries-dead wife.
Discovering Lord Blakely is in league with Damas, George sweeps Katherine away from the chaos and devilry threatening her life. With every touch, their love grows by joyful leaps and bounds.
Sensing his enemy’s vulnerability, Damas kidnaps Katherine to his hellish lair, where he wages a sensual assault on her defenses. As George tears at heaven and earth to find her, he is painfully aware of only one way to save her soul. The cost will break her heart…and destroy his own.
Warning: Contains wolves in gentlemen’s clothing, a precipitous descent into Hell, and a frightening glimpse of a post-apocalyptic world where angels and demons wage war for dominion on earth.
—Fresh Fiction on Forged in Fire
“Action packed, fast paced and steamy, I recommend to any paranormal romance enthusiast. Sealed in Sin can stand alone, however, you won’t want it to. Like Pringles...you can’t just have one...feast upon this cracky goodness!”
—Smexybooks
Excerpt:
“How do you know about the world of demons, George? How did you move as they did? I thought I had fainted by the pond and awakened beside the barn, but I didn’t, did I?”
Had she imagined being transported from the horses to the barn in a long blink?
“No, you didn’t faint. It’s called sifting. A power of the angels, to move from place to place at will.”
“But they weren’t angels.”
“They were once.”
Fallen angels. Could this be possible? What did that make the man standing before her? He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Perhaps I should define the two realms for you.”
“That would be lovely.”
His mouth quirked at her sarcasm, though he chose not to comment. “There is the Flamma of Light and the Flamma of Dark.”
“Flamma?”
“Fire, in Latin, which is the common tongue between the heavenly and demonic hosts.”
She pulled her hand from his and stood, staring into the flames. “Why fire?”
He joined her and removed his wet coat. “I asked the same question once.” He winced as he peeled the coat off his right arm. A pool of red had soaked through his undershirt.
“Oh God, your arm, George. You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.”
Just as he had unbuttoned her jacket, she swiftly unfastened his waistcoat, then his shirt and peeled them off him. Steering her gaze away from his finely sculpted chest and broad shoulders, she examined the cut more closely. She bent over and, with a quick rip, tore a long strip from her shift.
“You needn’t do that, Katherine.”
“Be still and let me mend you as best I can.”
He held his arm straight so that she could wrap the fabric around his arm.
“Why fire?” she asked again, busying herself with the makeshift bandage.
“Flamma are all touched by fire, an otherworldly power given to each of us.”
She remembered the way he moved, the way the demons moved, with supernatural speed and agility. A drop of rain dripped from his tousled hair, landing on his shoulder before rolling forward. She followed its path as it slid down and over his pectoral. Trying to regain her composure, she inhaled a deep breath, which was a mistake. She breathed in the heady scent of rain and beautiful man, her agitation amplified by his proximity and the undeniable power surging through his body. She longed to touch him, to know what all that strength would feel like under her fingertips, but she was paralyzed by her own desire and wavered on a dangerous precipice. When she’d cinched the bandage into a neat knot and finally chanced a glance at him, his smile nearly buckled her knees.
“There,” she whispered. “That will stop the bleeding.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“What do you mean?”
His shoulders went rigid as if he were holding himself in tight control. Katherine knew his thoughts had wandered away from the wound in his arm. She asked again, “What do you mean, George?”
His eyes slid closed. “I love to hear my name on your lips.” He opened his eyes again, his jaw set in grave lines. “What I mean, my lady, is that I am bleeding inwardly, and I know of only one way to stop it.”
Katherine was well aware of the tension filling the room, of the rise of her heart rate, of the longing in his gaze, which surely matched her own. She realized she was tumbling over that cliff. And she didn’t care, quite content to drown in his aquamarine gaze.
“How can I stop it, George? Tell me.”
“I’d rather show you.”
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Thursday, February 4, 2016
Interview + Giveaway: Winterwood by Jacey Bedford
UFI welcomes Author Jacey Bedford. Thanks for Joining us!!
Winterwood
Rowankind #1
PRAISE FOR WINTERWOOD:
“Swashbuckling action, folklore and characters to care about: this is an authentic English take on historical fantasy, magic and class.”
—Kari Sperring
“A fabulous and fun action-packed story, with an engaging heroine.”
—Liz Williams
“A finely crafted and well-researched plunge into swashbuckling, sorcery, shape-shifting and the Fae! Highly entertaining.”
—Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
I spent a lot of my youth riding horses and reading pony books before discovering fantasy fiction by finding a copy of CS Lewis' The Horse and His Boy. That was my gateway into fantastic literature and I haven't looked back since. I've been a bookaholic all my life so it was natural that I went to college and became a librarian and then progressed to writing my own stories. When we had kids I left libraries, and after a few years I ended up singing with a cappella vocal trio, Artisan (www.artisan-harmony.com), touring internationally. I've made a dozen CDs and a concert DVD and played all over the UK, parts of Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. Since the band split up, I've worked from home, which I adore.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
Down time? What is this 'down time' of which you speak? I run my own business booking music tours of the UK for folk performers and I write, so there's really not much down time at all. I try to cram in reading as well, and then there's all the day-to-day stuff. Sometimes I barely have time to dash off to the supermarket to buy groceries. I'm also the secretary of Milford - that's the Milford SF Writers' Conference in the UK - (www.milfordSF.co.uk) which is a week-long event for published SF authors.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
I know some authors don't like the editing process, but I love it. It's the point at which you can take a first draft - sometimes a fairly crappy first draft - a rework it to make sense. You can refine ideas and characterisation and suddenly from this chaotic jumble of words, something emerges that has shape and structure.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
Not really. My motto is: apply seat of trousers to office chair, fingers to keyboard and type. My office is at the front of the house. It's a room full of books, my desk, my computer, and it has a bit of spare floor space for the dog to lie down and keep me company. I often hit the office chair before I hit the kitchen in the morning. My other half says I'm impossible to prise out of there once I get absorbed. I write late into the night so I'm rarely awake before ten, but I'm often writing at three in the morning because that's when the rest of the world is asleep and no one wants a piece of me. The phone stops ringing. The household is quiet. I like a quiet writing space. I can't listen to music while I'm writing. I guess it's having been in the music business. Music is to be listened to. If I have it playing while I'm writing I get distracted.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
I really love Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson books. Ms Briggs is a buy-on-sight author and I think I have everything she's ever written. I'm also exceedingly fond of Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid books and Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus books. I also love Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards books and Lisa Shearin's Raine Benares books. Both of those last ones are second-world fantasies, but they've got the snap of Urban Fantasy. Not Urban Fantasy at all, but I have to mention my favourite author, Lois McMaster Bujold, who writes both science fiction and fantasy. Her character, Miles Vorkosigan, could easily grace the pages of any urban fantasy. I've just started to read C.E, Murphy's Negotiator books, starting with Heart of Stone, featuring Margrit, a young black lawyer in NYC, and Alban, a gargoyle. I'm looking forward to reading more, her characters are great.
How would you pitch your Rowankind series to someone who has not heard of it before?
Urban-ish fantasy set in 1800. Ross Tremayne, a cross-dressing female privateer captain and unregistered witch, likes her life on the high seas surrounded by a bunch of barely reformed pirates and accompanied by the ghost of her dead husband, but when she pays a deathbed visit to her estranged mother she inherits a brother she didn't know she had, and a task she doesn't want. Enter Corwen, wolf shapechanger. He's handsome, competent and Ross really doesn't like him. Neither does Will's ghost. Ross has to choose between the land and the sea; the ghost of the past, or the possibilities of the future, and she has to make a decision which could affect the whole country, for better or for worse.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that Winterwood, the first in the Rowankind Series, is set in?
It's 1800. England is ruled by Mad King George, the American colonies have been lost and Napoleon is knocking at the door. Out on the oceans British privateers with letters of marque from the king cruise legitimately for prizes of French merchant ships. On land, in almost every household of substance, is an unpaid army of rowankind, gentle bond-servants so unremarkable that everyone has forgotten where they came from in the first place. Magic is strictly controlled by the Mysterium. Registered witches are limited to performing small magics. Unregistered witches are hanged. And somewhere, hidden in the darkest corner of London, is a two hundred year old organisation so secret that it hasn't even got a name.
Do you have a favorite scene in Winterwood?
I have a couple of favourite scenes. I really like the opening in which Ross visits her dying mother. After seven years of estrangement it's a bitter scene. There's no forgiveness on either side, though Ross doesn't come to understand why it's all come about until she learns about her family's past.
Also much later on, Ross and Corwen are taking cautious first steps, but Will's ghost gets into a jealous snit. Corwen and the ghost end up facing off at a most inconvenient moment. That was a really fun scene to write.
Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about? #
I think they're all favourites while you're writing them. Ask me tomorrow and I might have a different answer. I like writing complex, multi-layered characters. In Winterwood Ross came to me fairly easily. She almost jumped on to the page fully-formed. She's the captain of her own ship. She dresses in man's clothes and has taken on the persona of her late husband, Will. She's grown into the role of privateer, preferring the sea to the land because on the land her magic gains strength and threatens to overwhelm her. She's good at what she does, and has remade a family for herself, her own being out of reach. Corwen, on the other hand, is a bit of an enigma. I'm writing the second Rowankind book now and still discovering aspects of Corwen that didn't come out in the first book. In Winterwood, he's a mystery and Ross thinks he's dangerous and doubts his motives. He doesn't get any point-of-view time, so reveals himself through what he does and says, not what he thinks.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
Winterwood is the first in a trilogy about the world of the Rowankind. The second book, Silverwolf, will deal with the aftermath of Ross' action in Winterwood. What she does will impact on England, the industrial revolution, the tolerance for magic and even on Mad King George himself. The third book will continue the story with further forays into the political situation complicated by a litter of little shapechangers who can't stay out of trouble. I also write science fiction. My first two space operas in the Psi-Tech universe, are far-future adventures with spaceships, telepathy, evil megacorporations and something dark lurking in the depths of Foldspace. Empire of Dust and Crossways are out now (from DAW) and the third in the trilogy, Nimbus, is the next to be written.
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WinterwoodRowankind #1
Set in 1800 in Britain, Mad King George is on the throne with Napoleon Bonaparte knocking on the door. Unregistered magic users are pursued to the death, while in every genteel home resides uncomplaining rowankind bondservants who have become so commonplace that no one can recall where they came from.
Meanwhile, Rossalinde Tremayne is satisfied with her life as a cross-dressing privateer captain on the high seas. But a bitter deathbed visit to her estranged mother changes her life completely when she inherits a magical winterwood box. Now, not only is she confronted with a newly-discovered brother, and an annoyingly handsome wolf shapeshifter, Rossalinde has to decide whether or not to open the box to free rowankind and right an ancient wrong—even if it brings the downfall of Britain.
This brand-new series is perfect for fans of Elizabeth Bear, D.B. Jackson, and Marie Brennan, as well as readers of historical fiction who are looking for an accessible gateway to fantasy.
PRAISE FOR WINTERWOOD:
“Swashbuckling action, folklore and characters to care about: this is an authentic English take on historical fantasy, magic and class.”
—Kari Sperring
“A fabulous and fun action-packed story, with an engaging heroine.”
—Liz Williams
“A finely crafted and well-researched plunge into swashbuckling, sorcery, shape-shifting and the Fae! Highly entertaining.”
—Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
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Find Jacey and her books
__________________________________
US ONLY
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