Week in Review: 2/7-2/13

Books Received for Review

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire

Books I've Read

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Reviews Posted

Bitter Bite by Jennifer Estep
Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan
Waging War by April White

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

* Monday- Promo + Giveaway for Darkness Raging By Yasmine Galenorn; Cover Reveal for The Rise of Genesis by M.R. Merrick

* Tuesday- Cover Reveal + Giveaway for Hound's Bite by E.J. Stevens

* Wednesday- Promo + Giveaway for Bitter Bite by Jennifer Estep

* Thursday- Promo + Giveaway for SEAL Wolf In Too Deep by Terry Spear

* Friday- Promo + Giveaway for Limerence by Charlotte McConaghy

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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

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Review: Waging War by April White

Waging War

Author: April White

Release Date: January 26, 2016

Publisher: Self-Published

The Immortal Descendants Book #4

ISBN:  0765328089

ISBN13: 9780765328083

Genre: Time Travel Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

War is being waged against the Descendants and Saira Elian is desperate to stop the Mongers’ savage bid for power…

Saira’s search for kidnapped mixed-bloods draws her into the Mongers’ stronghold, revealing the horrible truth behind the irresistible Monger ring and the vile plan to cleanse Family bloodlines … permanently.

To prevent a brutal massacre, Saira and Ringo travel back to Bletchley Park during World War II where they team up with Archer from the past to crack a Nazi code and expose a Monger traitor intent on changing the course of history. They team with a female commando from the French resistance to hunt down an elite unit of Monger soldiers - Hitler’s Werewolves - before the terror squad can strike a fatal blow at the heart of the Allied war effort.

Their desperate manhunt drags Saira, Archer, and Ringo into the London underground on the eve of a Nazi bombing raid where they come face-to-face with the Monger assassin on a suicide mission to split Time. With the lives of all mixed-bloods in peril, Saira must make a sacrifice that even Time and love may never forgive.

April White brings history to life with another fantastic addition to The Immortal Descendants series.

I love reading about Saira's adventures into the past. Time isn't always easy, but Saira is always willing to dive into danger to save those she cares about and stop those that are out to hurt her and her friends. There are some HUGE advancements for Saira and Archer in WAGING WAR. I was particularly shocked with a few of them because Saira has always seemed to hold back a bit, but it all felt so right that the shock was a very happy and delighted shock.

The world building is always fantastically done in The Immortal Descendants series. I can picture every place the characters visit and I always feel like I am right there with them. Not only are the characters well developed, but they always have a tremendous amount of personal growth with each book. I am heavily invested in each one of them and I hate when bad things happen to them and delighted when good things come around. 

The ending just about killed me. I can't believe with all the things that happened in WAGING WAR to advance the storyline and Saira and Archer's relationship that it would end in the way it did. I am DYING to read the next book and am so sad that it isn't ready for me to devour yet. I will be impatiently waiting until it is.

I gave 5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Promo + Giveaway: Limerence by Charlotte McConaghy

Limerence: Episode 1
Book #3 of The Cure
February 11, 2016

No injection can cure love. Only life can do that.

Deep in the darkest tunnels hide the last of the resistance fighters. Hunted by the savage Furies and the ruthless Bloods, they live in constant peril. The only means of survival is to seek strength in family and find courage in love. So what happens when love is cured, scoured away, leaving death in its place?

In the final battle for freedom, there are no lines that won't be crossed. And for Josi this means becoming the creature she fears most of all: the girl with a blood moon heart.

The gripping conclusion to the dystopian trilogy The Cure, Limerence is a love story for the monsters within.

Perfect for fans of Pierce Brown, Laini Taylor and Maggie Stiefvater.

Blurb for Fury, the first book in the series: 

Perfect for fans of Divergent, this series is about a civilization where negative emotions have been erased, creating a world of mindless drones where only those with fury can survive.
 
Eighteen-year-old Josephine Luquet wakes up naked and covered in blood on the same day every year—when the blood moon is full. Josi has not responded to the Cure—an immunization against anger mandated by the government—and believes herself to be a threat to others.

Then she meets Luke. Luke has had the Cure but seems different from the other "drones"—and he's dead set on helping Josi discover the truth about herself before the next blood moon.

But time is running out. Is Luke willing to risk his life to be near her? Does he truly understand what violence she is capable of?

Raw and full of passion, Fury is a story of love in a dystopian world, and how much we are willing to forgive in the struggle to remember our humanity. 
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Charlotte has been writing from a young age, and has written several novels in both the science-fiction and fantasy genres, published internationally by Random House and Pan Macmillan. These include Fury, Book One of The Cure series and Avery, Book One of The Chronicles of Kaya.

She studied a Masters of Screenwriting at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, and is the author of the Australian Writer's Guild award-winning screenplay Fury – adapted from her novel of the same name. She now lives in London, writing novels and working on both film and television projects, as well as the upcoming graphic novel Skin.

Find Charlotte and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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International

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Promo + Giveaway: SEAL Wolf In Too Deep by Terry Spear

SEAL Wolf in Too Deep
Heart of the Wolf #18 
 Amazon   BN  Kobo  Indiebound  Apple 

Love spells danger for an alpha SEAL wolf and the woman who steals his heart in this steamy shifter romance from USA Today bestselling author Terry Spear
 
His love is dangerous
As a Navy SEAL and police diver, alpha wolf shifter Allan Rappaport knows how to handle tough situations, but the arrival of a human diving partner-especially one as attractive as Debbie Renaud-is a whole new challenge. Getting involved is dangerous, but Debbie's offers are hard to resist. As the heat between them rises and a murder plot thickens, Allan is on the brink of exposing his biggest secret.

But she's diving in headfirst
For Debbie, working with another top-notch diver like Allan is too good to be true, and their mutual attraction is hotter than she could have dreamed. Debbie suspects he's hiding something, though, and she's set on figuring it out-one off-duty rendezvous at a time. But when Debbie gets between a werewolf hunter and his intended victim, suddenly she is plunged straight into the heart of Allan's world-a world she never knew existed.

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Excerpt:

He pulled out a couple of mugs while she warmed up the cocoa. He chuckled and she turned to see what was funny and nearly had a heart attack.

He was holding one hot pink and white mug while reading it, the other sitting on the counter: Men should be like my curtains, easy to pull and well hung.

Her lips parted, she had to have turned cherry red, and she turned away quickly before she burned the cocoa. Now what? Explain that a friend had given them to her when her last boyfriend and she had parted company? Or just ignore the fact that they were drinking out of those cups while she was having hot cocoa with him and pretend she wasn’t embarrassed to the tip of her toes?

He brought the mugs over. “Anything else?”

“There’s a can of whipped cream in the fridge, if you want some.”

“Real cream,” he said, eyeing the can. “Looks good.” He gave it to her, and he lifted the mugs.

She shook up the can and pointed it at the right mug, pushed the nozzle, and the cream dripped and fizzled. Not to be thwarted, she shook it again, hoping that it wasn’t defective. And then the whipped cream swirled around with perfect ridges in a twirl on top with a cute little pointy peak. Perfect.

Then she turned to the other mug, shook the can again, and pushed the nozzle. It was working great until halfway through her little mountain of whipped cream twirling to perfection, when the nozzle malfunctioned again and spewed whipped cream everywhere.

In horror, she stopped what she was doing and stared at the white cream splattered all over Allan’s chest and a few that had dotted his boxer briefs. Her mouth agape, she glanced up at him.

His eyes sparkled with mirth and he laughed.

“Oh, oh, let me get something to wipe it up,” she said, belatedly, and set the can of whipped cream on the counter.

She grabbed some paper towels and wetted them, then rushed back to wipe the mess up. He was still holding onto both hot pink mugs of cocoa. She had every intention of taking one of the mugs and letting him clean himself, but he just moved his arms apart as if to say she made the mess, she could wash it up.

She thought she was going to die. Yes, he was totally hot. And yes, she’d fantasized about making love to him—since they were both unattached, and she truly liked him. But in her wildest dreams she would never have imagined making him cocoa in the middle of the night in her duplex while he stood in sexy silk briefs, not baggy, but nice and form fitting, and then she proceeded to splatter him with whipped cream. All over his tanned chest and those black briefs.

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USA Today Bestseller, TERRY SPEAR writes urban fantasy and Highland medieval romance: hot wolves, jaguar shifters, medieval Highlanders and lots more. She also pens young adult paranormal romance. She has over fifty paranormal books to her name, earned Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of the Year, and has been featured in The International Wolf Magazine, Woman’s World and BGS Book Review Magazine. She creates award-winning teddy bears in the heart of Texas and gardens. She retired from USAR after rappelling, mountain climbing, learning water survival, qualifying with a number of firearms, survived the obstacle courses, leadership reaction courses and confidences courses – and knows if she can do it, her characters can overcome any obstacle she puts in their path.

Find Terry and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Tour Wide

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Early Review + Promo + Giveaway: Bitter Bite by Jennifer Estep

Bitter Bite

Author: Jennifer Estep

Release Date: February 23, 2016

Publisher: Pocket Books

Elemental Assassin Book #14

ISBN:   1501111272

ISBN13: 9781501111273

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Publisher

Amazon  BN  iBooks  Kobo  Audible

Which is stronger: blood ties or a battle-tested friendship?

It’s not easy being queen bee of an underworld abuzz with crooks and killers. Wielding my potent Ice and Stone elemental magic will only get me so far—my real secret is my tight-knit makeshift family, a motley crew of cops and criminals, dwarves and playboys. My foster brother Finnegan Lane is my right-hand man, but when his suddenly not-dead relative comes back into the picture, I’m the one on the outside looking in.

It’s funny how life works: one minute your best friend is rock-steady, and the next he’s doe-eyed and buying into this whole loving-relative routine to the point of ignoring you. I’d like to be happy for Finn, I really would. But all of my instincts are telling me that beneath the syrupy sweet demeanor and old-fashioned charm, this sudden interloper is planning something. The whole shtick leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. This person might have avoided the grave once, but I’ll put anyone who hurts Finn in the ground—for good.

BITTER BITE was surprisingly hard to read. Finn has always been loyally by Gin's side and BITTER BITE pulls them apart.

Finn, Finn, Finn, oh how you disappointed me in BITTER BITE. I can totally understand his mommy issues and that he really wanted to believe his mother was everything he dreamed a mother would be, but I never thought he would pick a stranger over Gin. On top of feeling horrible for Gin, I thought Bria got the short end of the stick too. I mean who wants to hang out with their boyfriend's evil mother, having to pretend she is the best thing in the world because the person you love can't see through her crap?

As for Gin, she takes in all of the events in BITTER BITE like only Gin can. She is loyal, ruthless and willing to do anything she can to take care of those that she loves. She has faced some evil foes in her time, but I truly enjoy watching her take down all the new ones that throw themselves in her path.

I have come to the realization that I probably won't ever dislike an Elemental Assassin book. I love the characters, I love the world and I look forward to seeing how Estep ends the series when the ending happens to come—even though that will be a sad day.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Excerpt:

Thunk.

My shovel hit something hard and metal. I stopped and breathed in, hoping to smell the stench of decades-old decay. But the cold, crisp scent of the snow mixed with the rich, dark earth, creating a pleasant perfume. No decay, no death, and most likely, no body.

I cleared off the rest of the dirt, revealing the top of the casket. A rune had been carved into the lid—jagged icicles fitted together to form a heart. My stomach knotted up with tension. Fletcher had inked that same rune onto Deirdre’s file. This was definitely the right grave.

I was already standing in the pit that I’d dug, and I scraped away a few more chunks of earth so that I could crouch down beside the top half of the casket. The metal lid was locked, but that was easy enough to fix. I set down my shovel, pulled off my black gloves, and held up my hands, reaching for my Ice magic. The matching scars embedded deep in my palms—each one a small circle surrounded by eight thin rays—pulsed with the cold, silver light of my power. My spider runes, the symbols for patience.

When I had generated enough magic, I reached down, wrapped my hands around the casket lid locks, and blasted them with my Ice power. After coating the locks with two inches of elemental Ice, I sent out another surge of power, cracking away the cold crystals. At the same time, I reached for my Stone magic, hardening my skin. Under my magical assault, the locks shattered, and my Stone-hardened skin kept the flying bits of metal from cutting my hands. I dusted away the remains of the locks and the Ice, took hold of the casket lid, dug my feet into the dirt, and lifted it.

The lid was heavy, and the metal didn’t want to open, not after all the years spent peacefully resting in the ground. It creaked and groaned in protest, but I managed to hoist the lid up a couple of inches. I grabbed my shovel and slid it into the opening, using it as a lever to lift up the lid the rest of the way.

Dirt rained down all around me, mixing with the snowflakes, and I wrinkled my nose to hold back a sneeze. I wedged the length of the shovel in between the lid and the edge of the casket, so that it would stay open. Then I wiped the sweat off my forehead, put my hands on my knees to catch my breath, and looked down.

Just as I expected, snow-white silk lined the inside of the casket, with a small square matching pillow positioned at the very top, where a person’s head would rest. But something decidedly unexpected was situated next to the pillow, nestled in the middle of the pristine fabric.

A box.

It was about the size of a small suitcase and made out of silverstone, a sturdy metal that had the unique property of absorbing and storing magic. The box’s gray surface gleamed like a freshly minted coin, and it looked as clean and untouched as the rest of the white silk.

I frowned. I’d expected the casket to be completely empty. Or for there to be a decaying body inside; if I had been extremely lucky, Deirdre would have been in there, dead after all.

So why was there a box in it instead? And who had put it here?

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Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. Bitter Bite, the 14^th book in the series, will be released on Feb. 23.

Jennifer also writes the Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series. She is also the author of the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

Find Jennifer and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Giveaway #1: US/Canada Only

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Giveaway #2: Tour Wide

There is a tour-wide giveaway for a complete set of the Elemental Assassin series, a $25 Amazon gift card, and 3 signed copies of BITTER BITE. Series & gift card are open to US/Canada; signed copies are US only.

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Review: Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Reign of Shadows

Author: Sophie Jordan

Release Date: February 9, 2016

Publisher: Harper Teen

Reign of Shadows Book #1

ISBN:  0062377647

ISBN13: 9780062377647

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

With lush writing and a star–crossed romance, Reign of Shadows is Sophie Jordan at her best.

I'm having a hard time deciding if I truly liked REIGN OF SHADOWS or if I just liked the ideas behind it.

I very much enjoyed the characters in REIGN OF SHADOWS. Both of the main characters were strong willed with a lot of fight in them even though they had lived very different lives and have very different roles. One was hard while the other was soft and they somehow ended up complimenting each other even as the bumped heads. Their romance is more sweet than fierce and even though it seems to come on fast, it is really drawn out too. The story was interesting and made me want to read and find the answers the author was slowly doling out.

So where is my problem with REIGN OF SHADOWS? There was a lot of nothing going on between the meat of the story and there were a lot of things I didn't feel were explained. Sure we learn some things about the characters and the world as they are slowly traveling and nothing is happening, but I would have loved more things to happen or for them to find a way to travel along faster. At the pace they are going right now, they will never get anywhere. I honestly can't tell you more than a handful of things that happened in the 304 pages I read. I am glad I got the points of the story, but it didn't feel like enough happened.

Of course then REIGN OF SHADOWS had to end on the cliffhanger that it ended on. It was one of those WHAT juts happened moments and I WANT to know what will happen next, so now I feel like I want to read book two even though book one had its issues.

I gave it 3/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Hound's Bite by E.J. Stevens

I am excited to reveal the cover for HOUND'S BITE, the fifth full-length novel in the Ivy Granger urban fantasy series by E.J. Stevens.  We also have a giveaway and a sneak peek book excerpt to share!

Cover Reveal: Hound's Bite

Hound's Bite (Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective #5) by E.J. Stevens

Ivy Granger thought she left the worst of Mab's creations behind when she escaped Faerie.  She thought wrong.

In a cruel twist of fate, Ivy has unleashed a powerful horde of Unseelie beasts upon her city, turning her homecoming into a potential slaughter of innocents.  Now Ivy must gather her allies to fight a reputedly unstoppable force—The Wild Hunt.

Will the training Ivy received in her father's court be enough to save her city, or will Harborsmouth be forced to kneel before the Lord of the Hunt?  She is willing risk her own life, but some sacrifices come at a cost worse than death.  When an ally is bitten by one of The Wild Hunt's hounds, Ivy must face the possibility that winning this battle may mean killing the one person she has come to love most.

Release Date: July 12, 2016

Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Add to Goodreads.

Hound's Bite Book Excerpt

     “Are you saying we should run?” I asked, eyebrows raised.  “Because you should know me better than that.”

     “What he’s saying, Princess is that you woke up something too big for the three of us to defeat alone,” Torn said.

     That made me pause.  We’d fought faerie queens, pyro demons, a lovesick necromancer, and a psychotic lamia, to name a few.  I may not have come through those battles unscathed, or with all my guts still on the inside, but with my friends at my side, and a new arsenal of wisp powers at my fingertips, I felt nearly invincible.

     I looked to Ceff, hoping he’d grab his trident and join me for some quick monster cleanup.  I may not be on the clock for this one, but I didn’t let hungry fae prowl the streets of Harborsmouth.  And if Torn was right, I’d somehow let this one follow us out of Faerie.  No way was I turning tail, no matter how tired I was.

     But Ceff didn’t reach for his weapons.

     “We need allies,” he said.

     “And larger weapons,” Torn said, with a wink.

     The cat sidhe looked excited, which was a clue that I wasn’t going to like the answer to my next question.

     “And what monster do we need to gather our allies and weapons against?” I asked.

     “Haven’t you guessed yet, Princess?” Torn asked, eyes gleaming.  “We’re not just facing one howling beast.”

     Ceff turned to me, closing the space between us.  In the moonlight, I could see my reflection in the dark pools of his kelpie eyes—eyes that were tight with worry.

     “What are they?” I asked.

     Ceff’s voice was low and reverent, and tinged with the taint of fear.

     “The Wild Hunt.”

Hound's Bite Cover Reveal Giveaway

To celebrate the Hound's Bite cover reveal, we are giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card!

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below.  This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.  Giveaway ends February 23, 2016 midnight EST.

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What do you think of the cover?

E.J. Stevens is the author of 14 works of speculative fiction, including the Hunters' Guild urban fantasy series, the Spirit Guide young adult paranormal series, and the award-winning Ivy Granger urban fantasy series.  She is known for filling pages with quirky characters, bloodsucking vampires, psychotic faeries, and snarky, kick-butt heroines.

Connect with E.J. Stevens by following her on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter, Blog, Goodreads, and Amazon.