Guest Blog: Yolanda Sfetsos

UFI welcomes Yolanda Sfetsos Author of A Patch of Darkness. Thanks for Joining us!!

Some of My Book Picks

Hi everyone! Firstly, I'd like to thank Stacy for having me over here today.

I'm a writer from Sydney, Australia. I also happen to be a huge reader. Actually, I would go as far as to say that I'm a bibliophile. I'm not just addicted to reading, but also to buying and collecting books. I buy at least two paperbacks a month—not including the books I’ve already pre-ordered months in advance—and a bunch of Kindle books, too.

I just can't stop. There are too many interesting books out there that I must read. Not to mention that once I get hooked on a series, that’s it.

Like my writing, I read in a variety of genres—urban fantasy, YA, paranormal, horror, sci-fi, mystery, thrillers... I'm not too fussy. If I read the blurb of an upcoming book and it fascinates and/or grabs my attention, more than likely I will add the book to my spreadsheet and pre-order it. Yeah, I'm that hardcore. ;)

Although I read different genres, my most fave has to be urban fantasy. I love it so much because it combines the supernatural, offers the freedom to create a world much like ours but with a few differences, it’s filled with kick-ass heroines and tempting heroes!

Here's a picture of my (mostly) urban fantasy bookshelf:

I know. That's a lot of books, right? The bottom shelf contains my keepers.

These are the series I'm most attached to:

I’ve also recently started the first book/s in several other UF series. Here’s a list of the ones I’ve really, really enjoyed and will look forward to reading more of:

KINDLING THE MOON by Jenn Bennett,

HOUNDED by Kevin Hearne,

DEADTOWN by Nancy Holzner,

NIGHT CHILD by Jes Battis,

DEAD TO ME by Anton Strout,

DEAD, UNDEAD, OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN by J.A. Saare

DOG DAYS by John Levitt,

A BRUSH OF DARKNESS by Allison Pang,

THREE DAYS TO DEAD by Kelly Meding,

BLACK BLADE BLUES by J.A. Pitts,

MIND GAMES by Carolyn Crane,

THE SCENT OF SHADOWS by Vicki Pettersson.

I've also got many books on my to-read pile at Goodreads. With all the writing, revising, and editing I've been doing, I've fallen behind on some of my favourite series. But I'm hoping to catch up this year. Plus, I'm always keen to get started on some new ones. :)

So, I was wondering... do you like to get stuck into more than one series?

Before I go, I thought it might be cool to list some book picks from a few of the characters in my Sierra Fox series...

Sierra Fox: She’s a very busy spook catcher, and is also involved in a lot of other things that take up way too much of her time, so she hardly has any time to read anymore. At the moment she’s re-reading, ‘When the Spirit Remains’ by Claude Spooker, for further research into the parapsychologist. Her favorite books of all time are Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. She also likes Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King.

Jonathan Wells: He owns an occult bookstore and is always reading. Mostly he prefers to read occult reference books, or rare texts and volumes. These are some of his favourites: The Demonic: A Reference Book by Unknown Author, Amulets and Demonic Seals by Troyan Slevani. As far as fiction goes, his all-time fave is The Excorcist by William Peter Blatty.

Lavie Grye: Is also a very busy woman, but she likes to sneak in the odd romance novel when she has a spare moment and doesn’t have to read for research. She gets a kick out of reading paranormal romances featuring hot demonic heroes, and is a huge Anne Rice fan. She’s also really enjoying Roger Hocking's Journal at the moment.

Thanks for reading,

Yolanda

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Wife. Mother. Writer. Bibliophile. Dreamer. Animal lover. Intrigued by the supernatural. Horror freak. Zombie enthusiast. Movie & music fan. Slave to her muse.

Yolanda lives in Sydney, Australia with her awesome husband, lovely daughter, and cheeky cat.

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Find Yolanda and her books

Website / Twitter / Goodreads

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A Patch of Darkness
Sierra Fox #1
May 15, 2012

  In a perfect world, Sierra Fox would have stayed away from the Council she left years ago. But in this world—where spirits have the right to walk among the living—it’s her job to round up troublesome spooks and bring them before that very same Council.

Though her desk is piled high with open cases, she can’t resist an anonymous summons to a mysterious late-night meeting with a bunch of other hunters, each of whom seems to have a unique specialty. The news is dire: something is tearing at the fabric of the universe. If the hunters can’t find who or why in time, something’s going to give in a very messy way.

As current cases, family secrets, new clues and her tangled love life slowly wind themselves into an impossible knot, Sierra finds herself the target of a power-sucking duo intent on stealing her mojo. And realizing she holds the key to the last hope of sealing the widening rift.

Product Warnings: Spook catching: may contain traces of ectoplasm and otherworldly nasties. Not recommended for those with allergies to ghosts, demons, and with boyfriends who think your power is theirs. While reading, avoid dark patches and stay to the light.

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Review: A Patch of Darkness by Yolanda Sfetsos

A Patch of Darkness
Author: Yolanda Sfetsos
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Sierra Fox Book #1
ISBN13: 6781609286880
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Author

In a perfect world, Sierra Fox would have stayed away from the Council she left years ago. But in this world—where spirits have the right to walk among the living—it’s her job to round up troublesome spooks and bring them before that very same Council.

Though her desk is piled high with open cases, she can’t resist an anonymous summons to a mysterious late-night meeting with a bunch of other hunters, each of whom seems to have a unique specialty. The news is dire: something is tearing at the fabric of the universe. If the hunters can’t find who or why in time, something’s going to give in a very messy way.

As current cases, family secrets, new clues and her tangled love life slowly wind themselves into an impossible knot, Sierra finds herself the target of a power-sucking duo intent on stealing her mojo. And realizing she holds the key to the last hope of sealing the widening rift.

Product Warnings: Spook catching: may contain traces of ectoplasm and otherworldly nasties. Not recommended for those with allergies to ghosts, demons, and with boyfriends who think your power is theirs. While reading, avoid dark patches and stay to the light.

Sierra is a spook catcher and her job and seeing how she does things was definitely the best part of A PATCH OF DARKNESS. The book had a good array of characters and I felt that Yolanda did a good job with their overall development of them. Yolanda plugged in to Sierra's past with the Council a lot and It was nice to see the back story and get a feel for what Sierra had been through. Sierra gets a mysterious note one night and finds herself in a new supernatural hunter type group yet the group really didn't do anything. I thought it was a bit weird to introduce it yet not really have them all work together. Sierra did see some of the others outside the group and a few helped her out but like I said as a group nothing was accomplished.

The whole relationship between Sierra and her boyfriend Jonathan annoyed the heck out of me. I mean how is she still with him at the end? Just don't understand it. She is portrayed as so incredibly strong in everything else about the novel and has dealt with dirt bag men in her past yet she ignores just about every sign that Jonathan is hiding something and just might not be on the up and up and when she finds out she doesn't drop him immediately?

A PATCH OF DARKNESS gave us plenty of action but most of the time while reading I was frustrated or just not that attached to the scene. I think the series has some potential but only if book 2 address' some holes and gives Sierra some better judgment towards her relationship.  

I gave it 2.5/5 stars

New Releases: 5/13-5/19

Tues May 15

As Dead As It Gets (Bad Girls Don't Die #3) by Katie Alender
Immortal Hearts (Vampire Kisses #9) by Ellen Schreiber

Happy Reading!!

Review: Hunting the Shadows by Alexia Reed

Hunting the Shadows
Author: Alexia Reed
Release Date: May 7, 2012
Publisher: Carina
Shadow Ops Project Book #1
ISBN13: 9781426893735
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Author

Amy has spent her life in isolation. Locked away in the Centre, a secret government facility where children with extraordinary abilities are raised as highly skilled fighters, she longs for a normal life. A life where being around people doesn't overload her sensitive telepathic mind. A life where she can't see through the eyes of a murderer as he hunts down his next victim...

J.C. Nikolaiev was a top researcher, but when his conscience got the better of him, he tried to destroy his work and free his subjects—and was imprisoned as a traitor. To save himself and prevent more people from dying, J.C. must catch the serial killer stalking the halls of the facility. But his only leads come from a woman whose thoughts have invaded his mind...

Finally out of the psych ward, Amy joins forces with J.C. to find the killer before he closes in on them. Can their growing attraction withstand the truths they uncover?

Both J.C and Amy grew up in a research program. J.C was groomed to fight and has become a top researcher but Amy was hidden away due to her mental abilities and continues to be hidden away and tested on. That all changes when J.C gets sick of the way the test subjects are treated and hatches a plan to free them that does not go as expected. J.C. and Amy are brought together and help each other find the saboteur and killer before its to late. 

The story starts with action and ends with action. I enjoyed both of the main characters but Amy was my favorite out of the two. She has been through a lot in her life hidden away in the mental hospital area of the compound she grew up in not able to be around others without her brain going haywire from the voices. She was alone and scared and latched onto J.Cs mind at the right moment to help him out. She went from a weak girl to a fierce woman with J.C.s help and J.C. was better having Amy in his life as well. J.C was the type of man that fights for his beliefs and the people he cares about. The world that he lives in is a hard way to grow up but he has never known anything else and still doesn't want his subjects to go through what they are going through. I didn't always agree with or like what he did in the book but he was a good man and you cant help but like him. There was an instant connection between the characters upon meeting each other. Their relationship was not easy but it flowed well and was believable. The world that the characters live in was interesting and kept me thinking. The mystery of who the killer was, was pretty good. I didn't feel like I had a grip on who it was throughout the story and I didn't guess who the real killer was until he was revealed. Overall I enjoyed HUNTING THE SHADOWS.


I'm not sure what book 2 will be about but I would assume this is one of those series that follows a different love story in each book but continues the plot throughout. I'm intrigued enough to keep reading more.


I gave it 3.5/5 stars

Week in Review: 5/6-5/12

Books Ive Bought/received

* All Spell Breaks Loose by Lisa Shearin- Publisher

* Blood Kin by M.J. Scott- Publisher

* Cursed by Benedict Jacka- Publisher 

* Shadow Sights by EJ Stevens-eARC-  Author


* Echo Falls by Jamie McDougall-Ecopy- Bewitching Book Tours

* Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein- ARC- Librarything win 

* Kitty Steals the Show by Carrie Vaughn-Arc- Publisher


* Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson-Arc-Author


Books I read

The Mayfair Moon by J.A. Redmerski
Blood Before Sunrise by Amanda Bonilla
All Spell Breaks Loose by Lisa Shearin
Blood Kin by M.J. Scott

Reviews posted


Just One Drop by Quinn Loftis
The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova
A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer

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

* Monday Quinn Loftis was here with a sneak peak of her newest release Just One Drop. She also put up a giveaway.

* Tuesday Sara Grant was here to promote her book Dark Parties. She provided a guest post and giveaway.

* I recently lost my job so giveaways that are solely put out there by me (about 40% of the giveaways I do) will not be as plentiful until I find a new one. I pay for the shipping all on my own and with no income on my part coming into the house I just cant justify doing it at the moment.


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*If you see something on my books Ive read list that you are dying to know about let me know I'm back logged on reviews and can move it up on the list if I know people are wanting one.

* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Winner: Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize: one copy of Goddess Interrupted

The Winner chosen by Rafflecopter is.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Early Review: A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer

A Blood Seduction
Author: Pamela Palmer
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Avon
Vamp City Book #1
ISBN:  0062107496
ISBN13: 9780062107497
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

Vampires live only for lust and pleasure in the eternal twilight of Vamp City. But the city’s magic is dying. The only person who can restore it? A beautiful woman from the mortal world...one who knows nothing of the power she wields.

Quinn Lennox is searching for a missing friend when she stumbles into a dark otherworld that only she can see—and finds herself at the mercy of Arturo Mazza, a dangerously handsome vampire whose wicked kiss will save her, enslave her, bewitch her, and betray her.

What Arturo can’t do is forget about her—any more than Quinn can control her own feelings for him. Neither one can let desire get in the way of their mission—his to save his people, hers to save herself.

But there is no escape from desire in a city built for seduction, where passion flows hot and blood-red. Welcome to Vamp City...

A BLOOD SEDUCTION is a great Dark Fantasy for those who like dark violence and a little twist with vampires living on a parallel world. 

Quinn was way to trusting in my opinion, I wanted to smack her upside the head more then a few times. I liked her abilities and the explanations of them. Reading about Arturo and his dual persona's was akin to experiencing whiplash. When his good side was showing he was swoon worthy and easy to like but then bam he is someone cold, heartless and all around a piss poor man. I still cant tell what his motives are as they seemed to be hidden and changed so darn often. The relationship between Quinn and Arturo was a bit weird. He wants her and she wants him but they lie and scheme against each other at ever turn. The world building was fantastic. It was well thought out and executed. I enjoyed Pamela's writing style but I cant say I was totally sold on the story as a whole.

I wasn't crazy about the ending but it was a good way to throw a wrench into things. It seemed like it was going good and you knew what was really happening and then bam nothing is as it seems.

I gave it 3/5 stars