Review: Arcane Circle by Linda Robertson

Arcane Circle
Author: Linda Robertson
Release Date: December 28, 2010
Publisher: Pocket
Persephone Alcmedi Book #4
ISBN:   1439190259
ISBN13: 9781439190258
Genre: Urban Fantasy


Even magic can’t solve everything. . . . 

After facing down the forces of Fairy in mortal combat, Persephone Alcmedi still must deal with the aftermath. Not only does Seph now possess deadly secrets she must hide from the arcane and mundane world alike, but the dozens of magical creatures who’ve taken up residence behind her cornfield need food and shelter, and there’s still her foster daughter Beverly’s tenth birthday party to plan.

And that’s not all. . . . Seph’s boyfriend Johnny has revealed himself as the wærewolf Domn Lup, and the ruler of the wære world is en route from Romania to make sure Johnny really is the “king” he claims to be. But Johnny’s hiding a dangerous secret: his magic is locked in his mysterious tattoos. He and Seph must find a way for him to reclaim it—fast—despite those who have no intention of letting Johnny gain his full powers. Seph knows that, in the arcane world, strength is always a necessity and power must be constantly proven, but how far is she willing to go to succeed . . . and at what cost?


I was seriously dying to read this. After the cliff hanger in book 3 FATAL CIRCLE, ARCANE CIRCLE Couldn't come out fast enough in my opinion. Once again, Don't try to jump into this series in book 4 you must start from the beginning and pick up book 1 FATAL CIRCLE. 

In ARCANE CIRCLE you will get some shocking surprises and quite a bit of answers you might have been wondering about. Persephone, Johnny and Menessos seem to be working super well together despite past tensions and conflicts. Some new characters and Allies are introduced. Johnny finally gets a few answers about where his tattoos came from. Persephone has to do some soul searching like usual and her fellow witches still have there broomsticks up there butts.  I cant wait to see what the events in ARCANE CIRCLE will bring for the next book, I picked up this book and read it until it was done and was never bored with it.

I gave it 4/5 Stars

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop

Again I am participating in Follow Friday Hosted by Parajunkie.com as well as Book Blogger Hop hosted by crazy-for-books.com Thank you everyone for stopping by and Follow me if you like what you see!!

Follow Friday 

This weeks question comes from

Shannon @ Stalking the Bookshelves

"What book(s) have you discovered lately from someone's book blog?"

Across the Universe by Beth Revis and Im so super excited for it to come out.

Book Blogger Hop

This week's question comes from : Ivan who blogs at Ivan Bookworm:
 

"What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?"

I cant say there is a specific book that changed or influenced my life. The books that got me hooked on Urban Fantasy though was the Twilight Series. Until I read them I didn't read much at all, but I picked those up then picked another book up then another and now I read way to much.

What are you reading??

A ton of awesome books came out this week I have had the hardest time deciding what to read when. What are you reading??

UFI goes Rabid

Carmel over at Rabid Reads interviewed me today. Stop on over to see what I had to say. Thank you Carmel for having me on :)

Winner: Earl of Darkness by Alix Rickloff

Thank you to everyone that entered!!

PRIZE: The winner will receive 1 copy of Earl of Darkness by Alix Rickloff

The winner chosen by Random.org is…

Sherri W.

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

Review: Hellforged by Nancy Holzner

Hellforged
Author:Nancy Holzner
Release Date: December 28, 2010
Publisher: Tor Teen
Deadtown Book #2
ISBN:  0441019803
ISBN13: 9780441019809
Genre: Urban Fantasy


After Vicky banished her demon nemesis to the fiery depths of Hell, she thought life would return to normal. But considering she has a werewolf lawyer boyfriend, a zombie apprentice who’s angling to become a pop star, and an eccentric vampire roommate, what is normal, anyway?


Then the supposedly banished Hellion starts to trespass in Vicky’s dreams—just as several of Deadtown’s zombies are viciously attacked and become really dead. When Vicky realizes she’s the only connection between the victims, she suspects that the demon is somehow working through her dreams to become Deadtown’s living nightmare.

What she doesn’t know is that her old enemy brings with it a force more terrifying—and deadly—than anything she’s battled before.

I find the world Nancy Holzner has built to be highly interesting, I love the people and places she describes and the new facts she throws in along the way. Victory has to go to Wales learn new things and expand on her training with her Aunt Mab and I loved learning more about her and the way she trains Vicky. I defiantly want to see more of Aunt Mab thrown in the next book. There isn't much romance in HELLFORGED (meaning like almost none) but there are many great fight scenes to entertain you. I missed all the people and places of Deadtown and hope that the next book has her do more in Deadtown and maybe with more of her sister and her family as well. Interested to see where Nancy takes this series next.


I gave it 3.5/5

Guest Blog: Diana Pharaoh Francis

*Thank you so much for joining us here today Diana. I love the Horngate Witches series and cant wait to read more. Here are my reviews for BITTER NIGHT as well as CRIMSON WIND*

 Thank you for having me here, Stacy! I’m so happy to visit and so glad you liked Crimson Wind!

Crimson Wind is the second in my Horngate Witches series. I love writing these books and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that readers like them too. I’d been stirring the cauldron of the stories, the settings, the magic and the characters for awhile in my head, but they finally jelled a couple of years ago.

I had started with this idea of the world as we know it vanishing into a world of magic. That hooked into this question of—if the world used to be super magical, why wasn’t it anymore? We have legends of all sorts of magical creatures and events, but nothing recent. Why is that?

Once I figured out what was happening there, the characters who’d been floating around looking for their stories suddenly jumped up and demanded stage time. The first was Max, who’d been forced into a life she didn’t want. She was bitter and angry, but also loyal, strong, and funny. I found her hugely likeable, even though she has a lot of rough issues. The witch who’d bound her wasn’t just an evil villain. Giselle was driven by things that I could relate to and even Max could, much as she hated to admit it. I surrounded them with a cast of characters of people that came from bits of people I’d met over the years.

Enter Alexander. I originally thought that Max would have something going on with Oz (I picture him as Brendan Frasier from the Mummy. Yummo!) Anyhow, I thought Oz and Max would have something going on. And then Alexander wanders in. (I pictured him as a younger Cliff Simon).

I loved Alexander right away. I wanted him to be as strong as Max, but I didn’t want their relationship to be all about posturing and one-upmanship and competition for who was stronger or who was smarter or who was in charge. I wanted them to develop a real relationship, but it would be complex and difficult because of who they are and their situations. I wanted them both to have to make hard choices—Max to get past her bitterness, and Alexander to give up his witch and old life, and then find a new role in Horngate

Crimson Wind is all about them dealing with each other as the world around them is in total upheaval. We find out more about Alexander’s history, and we see the two of them trying to figure out who they are, who they want to be, and what they want from each other. The path is not easy. But I think the book really works and with any luck, you’ll be eager for more. crosses fingers

Shadow City is the next book in the series and I can’t say much about it without spoiling it. It explains a lot more about Scooter and brings us back to Horngate to see how things play out with the changes from Crimson Wind.  I’m finishing it up now and it should be out sometime around this time next year. I’ll post the date on my website as soon as I know anything for sure. In the meantime, watch my blog for snippets. There will be a fourth as well, but while I’m pretty sure I know what happens, telling you will spoil a lot. So my lips are sealed.

But if you’re super eager, here’s a little snippet from Shadow City: http://difrancis.livejournal.com/390770.html

Got any questions for me? I’m happy to answer.

Twitter: @dianapfrancis

www.dianapfrancis.com

October 27, 2009

December 28, 2010