Review: Darkness Hunts by Keri Arthur

Darkness Hunts
Author:Keri Arthur
Release Date: November 6, 2012
Publisher: Penguin
Dark Angels Book #4
ISBN:  0451237129
ISBN13: 9780451237125
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur returns to the enthralling Guardian World—and a twilight realm of danger and desire…

Risa Jones, half-Aedh/half-werewolf, can enter the realm between life and death. She can speak to the dying and the dead, and she can see the reapers, collectors of souls. What she can not yet see is the identity of a stranger murdering women and draining their blood. Now Risa must summon her gifts to find him, even if it means putting her own life in danger. But Risa needn’t look far. The killer knows who she is.

He tells her his victims are infected by darkness and he’s fated to destroy them. Fascinated by Risa, he engages her in a sinister game: the chance to save the life of his next victim by deciphering his series of clues. In a race against time, she enlists the help of the reaper Azriel.

But as an attraction between them grows, so does the fear that the stranger’s motives are only part of a larger, more dangerous stratagem—one that that has lured Risa and Azriel into the dark.

On top of trying to find the missing keys for her psycho Dad Risa now has a serial killer messing with her, sending her on wild goose chases to save his victims and waiting for his chance to take her on. I really have enjoyed following Risa's story and I can not imagine anyone not loving this series. I would recommend starting from book one to make sure you don't get lost at any point in the story.

Risa has zero downtime as usual. In the very first chapter Risa meets the new murdering stalker. I am a huge fan of Arthur's Riley Jenson Guardian Series so I absolutely love that the characters are also involved in this one. The love triangle between Risa, Azriel and Lucian is hopefully gone for good. I must admit I have been way over Lucian for a few books now and I'm SO HAPPY for the revelations that come to light in DARKNESS HUNTS. I still love the frustrating reaper Azriel. Him and Risa have a fantastic connection and a lot is revealed about the Reaper and his feelings. There is once again more hints at the reason for their connection and I really hope the full extent of it is revealed soon.  Risa once again finds herself in the hands of the enemies. How many times can one person get kidnapped by the same people? Its starting to get a bit ridiculous that they keep getting her away from Azriel.

DARKNESS HUNTS was filled from start to finish with action. Risa gets in to some pretty sticky situations as usual and thankfully comes out ahead once again with all those she cares about safe. DARKNESS UNMASKED is set to release June 2013.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Winners:Running in the Dark by Regan Summers

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Guest Post & Giveaway: Wilde's Fire by Krystal Wade

UFI welcomes Krystal Wade Author of the Darkness Falls Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

Wilde's Fire's Playlist

I once wrote a blog post (http://writing.ie/guest-blogs/songbook/entry/guest-blogs/guest-post-with-krystal-wade-music-is-my-muse.html) about how music inspires my writing.

I didn't keep a music journal to go along with my furious drafting of Wilde's Fire, but I do have songs that stood out.

For instance, Linkin Park's What I've Done helped shape Perth Dufaigh's character, his tough outside yet very misunderstood inside. Perth wants to be evil, and yet there's a really huge part of him who yearns to be accepted, forgiven, important. To date, he's just been a pawn in everyone else's game. Some days he likes that. Most days he doesn't.

Ray LaMontagne's Hold You in My Arms is a song I used when I needed to think about Arland and how he felt for Kate. She came to him with bad dreams, and she'd definitely been crying—she wound up in a strange world, daemons carved up her best friend, and she felt helpless. Everywhere she went, "catastrophe reigned". Prophecies, weapons of war, kissing and questions. Yep, this song really helped shape their story. A lot. More so than I even realized!

Another song that played on loop during my writing frenzy is Florence and The Machine's Cosmic Love. I mean, The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out |You left me in the dark| No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight – Need I say more?

So there you have it! Those are the top three songs from my Wilde's Fire writing playlist

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Krystal Wade can be found in the sluglines outside Washington D.C. every morning, Monday through Friday. With coffee in hand, iPod plugged in, and strangers–who sometimes snore, smell, or have incredibly bad gas–sitting next to her, she zones out and thinks of fantastical worlds for you and me to read. How else can she cope with a fifty mile commute?


Good thing she has her husband and three kids to go home to. They keep her sane.

Find Krystal and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Wilde's Fire
Darkness Falls #1
Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, IndieBound

"There is no pain in this death, only peace, knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most." - Katriona Wilde. Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she's ever known and loved ripped away, but she is about to find out. When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she's dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her. Kate's forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What's worse, she has no control over her new future, and it's full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made. Will Kate discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?

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Grand Prize Contest open to US/Canada only!. 

Contest Info: Each tour host will have a daily give away

  Entries into the daily give-away count towards the grand prize give-away of a Google Nexus 7 and a set of all three books signed!
Grand Prize Contest open to US/Canada only!.

Daily prize: a copy of Wilde's Fire in eBook format (open internationally)

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Review: Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
Author: Darynda Jones
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: St Martins Press
Charley Davidson Book #4
ISBN:  1250014468
ISBN13: 9781250014467
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Sometimes being the grim reaper really is that. Grim. And since Charley’s last case went so awry, she has taken a couple months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above. Or at least get dressed. She quickly realizes something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she’s insane. The more they refute the woman’s story, the more Charley believes it.

In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, has been cleared of all charges. He is out of prison and out of Charley’s life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved. Just when life was returning to normal, Charley is thrust back into the world of crime, punishment, and the devil in blue jeans.

The Charley Davidson series is one of those series I always recommend to people that ask what a must read series is. Charley's sarcastic, witty personality pulls me in and holds me hostage from beginning to end.

Charley has developed some issues from the event in book 3. Hoarding stuff from tv shopping, not sleeping well, and not leaving her home. Her friends and family are worried about her and they each have different ways in helping her get over her issues. Reyes is beyond yummy, frustrating by yummy. We get some great scenes between him and Charley in book 4. I really really wanted to punch him in the scene at the fight match though. The crazy stalker prison lady? Really? Yuck. Donovan made a small appearance and although I like him, I'm really glad he is a bit out of the picture now. No one will replace Reyes in my eyes. Things continue to be rough with Charley and her Dad, I still cant believe what he did and I don't blame Charley for not forgiving him. It seems like some crazy crap is going to happen involving Garrett. I cant begin to guess what it will be but is seemed like there was a bit of a build up starting. Loved the Dutch explanation as well, we finally know what it means!!

I really love this series, I wholeheartedly recommend it. If you haven't started reading this series yet you need to go pick it up now and start from book 1 because you wont want to miss a minute. FIFTH GRAVE PAST THE LIGHT can not come out soon enough.

I gave it 5/5 stars

Review: Out For Blood by Kristen Painter

Out For Blood
Author: Kristen Painter
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Orbit
House of Comarre Book #4
ISBN:   0316200174
ISBN13: 9780316200172
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review copy Source: Publisher/Netgalley

After nearly dying at the hands of the Aurelian, Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a comarré. That is until the Kubai Mata bring a new task to her doorstep: rescue the child Tatiana has kidnapped, or Mal becomes enemy number one.

Character wise OUT FOR BLOOD was full of just about everyone and everyone's points of view like usual.  I still enjoy following along with Chrystabelle's voice and story.  I'm kinda sick of Tatiana and no one seeing through her bull shit. I mean really!?!? How much crap can one bad guy get away with? Will she ever die? I sure hope so, I despise the parts in the book where her character is talking.  I could not stand Creek in OUT FOR BLOOD he annoyed the heck out of me. So glad the love triangle is over with. The Mayor, uggh *rolls eyes*, that's all she deserves. I still love Mal, cant reveal to much about him in book 4 but *sad face*. The parts with Maddox and Fiona were extremely entertaining. Those two are a trip and Fiona pulls out a can of whoop ass. It was fun to "watch" her go all Alpha female.

I can't say that I'm terribly shocked by the ending. I didn't see it coming or anything but i guess I kind of expect Chrystabelle not to have anything go anywhere near easy for her. The situation definitely makes me think that book 5 will be a roller coaster ride. This is one of those series were you would be utterly lost if starting from anywhere but the beginning. All in all OUT FOR BLOOD was a great addition to the series and you wont want to miss it.

I gave it 4/5 stars