Thursday, August 18, 2016

Review: The Sight by Chloe Neill

The Sight
Author: Chloe Neill
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Publisher: NAL Trade
Devil's Isle Book #2
ISBN:   0451473353
ISBN13: 9780451473356
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher
The paranormal war that engulfed New Orleans seven years ago is over. But the battle for the city is just beginning . . .

Claire Connolly is a Sensitive, infected with magic when the Veil that divides humanity from the world beyond fell. Magic can easily consume and destroy a Sensitive, and if Claire’s secret is discovered she’ll be locked into the walled district of Devil’s Isle along with every other Paranormal left in the city.

Bounty hunter Liam Quinn discovered Claire’s secret, but refused to turn her in. Together they saved New Orleans from the resurgence of magic that nearly destroyed it. But now a dangerous cult is on the rise, and it will take both Claire and Liam—and magical allies within Devil’s Isle’s towering walls—to defeat the occult threat before magic corrupts them both...

Don't try to jump into THE SIGHT before reading book one, THE VEIL. You will be lost and you won't know the characters or the storyline enough to understand decisions and events in THE SIGHT.

While we got a lot of action in THE VEIL, THE SIGHT leans more towards the government and politics of the Devil's Isle series. This made THE SIGHT feel a little slow on the start. It took me a little bit to get back into the story, but by the halfway point, I was in it and happy to be in the story.

Claire's family is gone, but her friends are always by her side and they play a big part in her story.  In fact, the secondary characters feel just as important to the story and it's growth as Claire and Liam.

The slow start to Claire and Liam's relationship is just so frustrating. It will seem like something is happening and then BAM, false alarm. They both REALLY care about the other but completely overthink things. There are valid concerns, but sometimes you just got to jump right in and enjoy yourself a little. Then there is the ending of THE SIGHT that sets things even farther back—which is all I will say about that. I have no clue what will happen to these two, but I have a lot of hope for them.

The ending of THE SIGHT leaves us with a LOT of questions about what will happen next. A lot of things are up in the air with the world and the characters. If you're looking for a new urban fantasy series to start this one should be on your list and it's a great time to start reading it.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Guest Blog: Lucy Trilogy by L.M. Pruitt

UFI welcomes Author L.M. Pruitt. Thanks for Joining us!!

Ghosts

Do you ever start a task with the assumption you’re doing one thing and it turns out you’re doing something else entirely? Like you start out doing laundry and then thirty minutes later you realize you’re in the middle of cleaning the bathroom and you have no idea how it happened?
That’s sort of what’s happened to me with the Lucy trilogy.
I started these books with the idea of bringing back a character who exited the stage far too soon. Well, that and getting a chance to write about the ten plagues, because, let’s face, they’re kinda cool. Rivers of blood, flies, lightning, death… it’s all very dramatic. And very, very appropriate for a series about angels and demons.
So I set off with this goal in mind. And somewhere along the way, things changed.
At some point, the story became not about the plagues or about a long dead character who was, let’s face it, kinda bitchy. It became about ghosts—knowing them, fighting them, and, hopefully, conquering them. Honestly, those ghosts, the ones we keep inside, the ones which are part and parcel of who we are—those are much harder to exorcise than any which might be floating around, waiting to frighten some hapless soul.
Somehow, I wound up writing a ghost story.
And honestly? I’m okay with that.
__________________________________

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice.  She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.

Find L.M. Pruitt and her books
__________________________________

Burden
Lucy Trilogy #1
Winged #11


All my life, I've had plans.

Dying the day before beginning the final year of my surgical residency wasn't one of them.

Finding myself drafted in the eternal war between good and evil wasn't one of them, either.

And dealing with friends, enemies, and lovers I don't remember?

Definitely not in my plans.

Cursed
Lucy Trilogy #2
Winged #12


 The problem with plans?

Even the best ones can go awry. And when they do... all hell breaks loose.

If I've learned only one thing in the last few months, it's the past never dies.

Four plagues down. Six more to come.

We need more than a plan.

We need a miracle.

 
Redemption
Lucy Trilogy #3
Winged #13






The problem with miracles?

They require a deity who cares.

And if you don't have one of those... you need a sacrifice.

Or the world ends

__________________________________



Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

New Releases: 8/14-8/20


Tue. Aug. 16th
 
 The Gentleman by Forrest Leo 
 Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
 Invasive by Chuck Wendig
 Risk (Mageri) by Dannika Dark
 Shadow Born (Shadows of Salem #1) by Jasmine Walt, Rebecca Hamilton
 Vicarious (Vicarious #1) by Paula Stokes

Happy Reading!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Monday, August 15, 2016

Promo + Giveaway: Alpha Call by B.A. Tortuga


Alpha Call
The Call #2
ARe Amazon Kobo
These two sexy shapeshifters are playing to win.

Wendy isn't part of anyone's pack, not anymore. As a cop, she can handle anything, even getting rid of her evil ex. Too bad local werewolf alpha Brett has different ideas. He doesn’t care if Wendy wants to be a lone wolf. He has to protect all the wolves in his town. Including her. Especially her.

Wendy finds Brett irritating, overbearing and sexy beyond belief. Brett thinks Wendy is trouble with a capital T and hotter than the dog days of summer. Butting heads can be fun, but there are other ways to rub against each other. Intimate, lusty ways.
Excerpt:

The sting when Brett, the big alpha of Boulder’s local packlands, popped her ass shocked Wendy down to the bone and she snarled, her inner wolf overcoming her inner cop in a fierce rush, everything in her reminding her that she wasn’t part of a pack. Any pack. The tiny burst of pain distracted her from the growing panic that she had been investigating the wrong perpetrators ever since the attack on Mike last night.
“You’re lucky I don’t have my sidearm on me, you fuck!” she snarled at Brett, teeth almost snapping at the air.
“I’m lucky? You probably would have drawn down on Stephanie here in the state you’re in if it wasn’t for me. I can fucking smell your panic.” Brett bared his teeth at her, growling, as if this was her fault.
“What’s going on?” Her best friend Stephanie was a sweetheart, a dear little wonder of witchiness, with her potions and rites and the constant scent of sage and rosemary. But some fights were for weres. Alone. And Steph wasn’t a werewolf.
“I don’t know, but she’s freaking out,” the big alpha said and casually shifted, moving halfway between her and Steph, separating them. That was a classic strategy, but she wasn’t a perp. She was here looking for evidence in Mike’s attack. Sweet, gentle EMT Mike, whose big crime had been taking Stephanie out on a date. Except that wasn’t the case, was it? This wasn’t about Stephanie. This was about Wendy and her past and the reason why she wasn’t part of a pack anymore.
“I am not freaking out!” Wendy caught herself yelling, that tiny bead of guilt growing since last night when she’d smelled something totally unexpected on Mike’s wound.
Not feral dogs, as the policeman in her had suspected. Not Stephanie’s jealous lovers, Shaw and Jordan, as the wolf in her had expected. No. She’d smelled the bastard who had been her worst nightmare, once upon a time.
“I don’t... Wendy? Honey?” Stephanie sounded so freaked out, stepping toward her.
“You just...” Wendy could feel panic creeping up inside her, and by the moon, that made her mad.
“Stop.” Brett barked, the command in the man’s voice undeniable, fierce.
Wendy rocked back on her heels and she fought the urge to howl. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Steph asked and came to her, hugged her tight, and damn, didn’t that make her feel worse? Wendy was the one who had accused Stephanie’s lovers of injuring Mike and now... “What’s wrong, honey? You can tell me.”
“I don’t know. I thought for sure I wouldn’t ever. This is all my fault.” Apologizing was hard. Wendy hated it.
“Nonsense.”  Stephanie sounded so sure.
“No. He followed me here. I can smell him now. I thought at the hospital I could, but it was so medicinal. He—” Jack was here. Jack, her crazy ex, had found her again, after so many years.
“He who?” Brett asked, voice sharp, getting right in her face. God, he was a fine son of a bitch, even if he didn’t know squat about her.
“It’s not your problem!” Wendy snapped, the guilt about Jack following her here, endangering others, making everything worse.
“My packlands, my problem.” Brett’s chest bumped into hers and she was reminded, rather forcefully, that wolf pack alphas were used to getting exactly what they wanted, the information they needed. Now.
“Guys. Guys, careful.” Stephanie started flailing, her panicky voice scraping along Wendy’s nerves like nails down a chalkboard. Brett grabbed Stephanie by the upper arms, shifting her away with surprisingly gentle hands.
“You’re an asshole. The goddamn alphas always are. I really need to find a town without a goddamn pack.” Wendy poked Brett in the chest with one finger, acting way braver than she felt.
Brett’s nostrils flared, then the man’s eyes went bright yellow. “Who is attacking people in my town?”
The scent of angry male hit her dead on, but it wasn’t Brett. It was another. Not right. Rotten and in wolf form. Jack.
“Shit!” Brett whirled before she even had a chance to respond, shifting to his own wolf form in a breath, and Wendy knew she knew she couldn’t hold onto her humanity.
“Wendy?” Steph backed away. “Wendy, oh Goddess.”
Wendy looked at her dearest friend in the whole world. Her oh so human friend. “Go, Steph. Run. You’re just going to get hurt if you stay. I’ll call you.”
The change took her in a rush, the world turning gray as she hit the ground on her paws, her clothes falling away as she spun to fight the violent bastard who was trying to ruin her life.
Brett barked, encouraging her to flank Jack as he attacked from the front, going immediately for Jack’s throat. Jack was wickedly smart, though, and deflected the blow, chasing after Stephanie instead.
No. No way.
No way.
They both gave chase, paws digging into the asphalt as they headed out.
Run! Run!



__________________________________

B.A. Tortuga Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy's Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she's not doing that, she's writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA's personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.

Find B.A. and her books
__________________________________
Tour Wide

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Week in Review: 8/17-8/13



Books Received for Review

Beast of All by J.C. McKenzie
Legacy of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Bound by Faerie by W.B. McKay
Ash by Shannon Mayer

Books I've Read

Dark Siren by Katerina Martinez
Legacy of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Reviews Posted

Quantum by Jess Anastasi

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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

* Monday- Cover Reveal + Giveaway for Wicked Passion by Amanda J. Greene

* Wednesday- Guest Blog for Cold Hearted: A Yancy Lazarus Novel by James A. Hunter

* Thursday- Cover Reveal + Giveaway for The Blessed Knights by Mary Tings

* Friday- Promo + Giveaway for The Sight by Chloe Neill

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

* 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.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Friday, August 12, 2016

Promo + Giveaway: The Sight by Chloe Neill



The Sight
Devil's Isle #2
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, iBooks
The paranormal war that engulfed New Orleans seven years ago is over. But the battle for the city is just beginning . . .

Claire Connolly is a Sensitive, infected with magic when the Veil that divides humanity from the world beyond fell. Magic can easily consume and destroy a Sensitive, and if Claire’s secret is discovered she’ll be locked into the walled district of Devil’s Isle along with every other Paranormal left in the city.

Bounty hunter Liam Quinn discovered Claire’s secret, but refused to turn her in. Together they saved New Orleans from the resurgence of magic that nearly destroyed it. But now a dangerous cult is on the rise, and it will take both Claire and Liam—and magical allies within Devil’s Isle’s towering walls—to defeat the occult threat before magic corrupts them both...

__________________________________

Photo by Dana Damewood
Chloe Neill is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Devil’s Isle, Chicagoland Vampires, and Dark Elite series. She was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest.  When not writing, she bakes, knits, Pins, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys–her favorite landscape photographer/husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout. (Both she and the photographer understand the dogs are in charge.)

Chloe is represented by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency. Chloe is a member of the Romance Writers of America. 

Find Chloe and her books
__________________________________
US ONLY
a Rafflecopter giveaway

TOUR WIDE

The fun doesn’t stop here. Want more chances to win? You can also enter Chloe’s Grand Prize Giveaway, which will run August 8 through August 19 on Chloe’s web site.
What’s included in the Grand Prize Giveaway?
Tour Schedule

Monday, August 8 – Paranormaly Yours
Tuesday, August 9 – TSK, TSK What To Read?
Wednesday, August 10 – Redd’s Reads | The Book Crumb Trail
Thursday, August 11- Dandelionn Wine  | Vicarious Bookworm
Friday, August 12 – NovelKnight | Urban Fantasy Investigations
Monday, August 15 – Parajunkee | Book-Marks The Spot
Tuesday, August 16 (Release Day) – YA Reads | The Saucy Wenches | Bad Ass Book Reviews
Wednesday, August 17 – Goldilocks & The Three Weres
Thursday, August 18 – The Book Nympho | Angel’s Guilty Pleasures
Friday, August 19 – The Book Swarm | TruBookiesReview | Lake’s Book Reviews
Posted by at 11 comments:
Labels: ,

Review: Quantum by Jess Anastasi

Quantum
Release Date: August 8, 2016
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Atrophy Book #2
ISBN:   1633756904
ISBN13: 9781633756908
Genre: Science Fiction
Review Copy Source: NetGalley
Someone wants Captain Admiral Zander Graydon dead. Like yesterday. Zander’s convinced his attractive assistant knows more than she’s willing to say, and if he can stop running long enough, he’ll find out exactly what she’s hiding. Lieutenant Marshal Mae Petros is determined to keep her CO safe. Before she tips her hand, however, Mae has to figure out if the alluring man she’s protecting is the real Captain Admiral Graydon. Or an alien shape-shifting imposter.

On the run and no one to trust…not even each other.

Captain Admiral Zander Graydon has seen a lot of action, but almost getting killed three times in one day is pushing it. Only the company of his new assistant, Lieutenant Marshal Mae Petros, makes things a little easier to swallow. Except the delectable Lieutenant Marshal Petros is hiding a number of secrets, and her presence might have something to do with the continued attempts on his life.

It’s no accident Lieutenant Marshal Mae Petros finds herself in the firing line alongside the charming but very off-limits Captain Admiral Graydon. She’s taken the job as the admiral’s assistant to determine if a shape-shifting alien has killed the CO and assumed his form. Whether the admiral is human or not, Mae finds herself getting way too close to him as they run for their lives.

Military to the core, Mae and Zander will have to overcome their suspicions of each other to work together, when they realize the fate of the entire universe is at stake.

Rian has sent Mae on a mission to infiltrate Zander Graydon's crew to find out if he is an alien impersonating his very good friend. Things start going wrong on her mission immediately when it becomes clear that someone is trying to kill Zander. She can't help but want to help protect him and her feelings for him grow pretty quickly even though she can't trust that he is human like she thinks. Someone is trying to kill Zander and he can't tell if his sexy new assistant is one of them. As the danger and his feelings grow he can't help but feel like she is keeping things from him.

Although I felt the spark between Mae and Zander, their relationship didn't wow me. They kinda jumped into things with both feet in the sex department, but with all the secrets and suspicions they held for each other I just didn't totally fall in love with them as a couple.

I did like seeing Rian and Mirella from book one continue with their very slow dance around each other. That relationship is going to explode when Rian finally lets himself feel something. Book three, DIFFRACTION, has it's blurb up and it doesn't feature these two, so not sure when all this will happen.

Relationship aspects aside, I did really enjoy the storyline continuation in QUANTUM. A lot gets accomplished in the characters bid to eventual defeat the shape shifting aliens that are taking over their world. I will definitely keep my eyes open for book three and hope that I enjoy the relationship a bit more.

I gave it 3/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)