Review: Magick by Trish Milburn

Magick
Author:Trish Milburn
Release Date: September 27, 2012
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
The Coven Book #3
ISBN:   1611941784
ISBN13: 9781611941784
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Netgalley

The covens are coming for her.

But is she a White Witch or a Dark Witch? In a war for control of the witch world, the answer will save-or doom-everyone she loves.

In White Witch, Jax gained friends she'd die for and a staggering power that threatens them all.

In Bane, Jax did the unthinkable and killed a supernatural hunter to protect her friends. She found herself lost in darkness and prisoner to the Bane, a secret society of witches sworn to prevent the use of the dark magic.

Now, in Magick, the powers of Jax and her friend Egan have been magically bound by the Bane. She must convince the Bane she can learn to control her power and become a White Witch in truth. She's their only hope now that the dark covens have called a Conclave with one purpose-to kill this generation's White Witch and anyone who has ever stood with her. If Jax can't amass an army of her own, rebuild the trust of her friends and boyfriend, and find the White Witch's elusive weapon against the dark, it may be too late.

Jax and her friends with the help of the Bane finally figure out the full extent of being a White Witch and Jax finally comes fully into her powers. It seemed a bit silly the way her powers worked, you witness one of the witches after her turn from a murdering hit man to a sniveling depressed guy who is sorry for all he has done wrong in the blink of an eye.  After such a huge buildup and training I found the fight against the coven a bit of a let down.They start the fight Jax touches everyone one by one and tada the fight is over. :/ Yeah It would have been nice to have it a bit more drawn out and I would have liked a bit more action and danger to happen like some past fights. I'm a bit surprised that this is the last book. It feels like a lot more could be explored and a lot more story could be told in the aftermath of the events in MAGICK.

The Coven series has been a quick to the point series. The pace has always been fast with a lot happening at once and with the characters developing quickly. The storyline was interesting and easy to follow. As I said above I felt the ending was a bit of a let down but it was still a good quick series to read.

I gave it 3/5 stars

Week in Review: 11/4-11/10

Books Ive Bought/received

* Shattered Circle by Linda Roberston-Arc- Publisher

* Rengade by J.A. Souders- eCopy- Publisher/Netgalley

* Leashing the Tempest by Jenn Bennett-eARC-Author

* The Stone Demon by Karen Mahoney-eARC-Netgalley

* Tempted By Evil by Amber Lynn Natusch and Shannon Morton- eARC- Author

* Returned by Keely Smith-ecopy- Bewitching Book Tours

Books I Read

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson
Magick by Trish Milburn
Magic For a Price by Devon Monk
Renegade by J.A. Souders

Reviews Posted

Deity by Jeniffer L. Armentrout
Out For Blood by Kristen Painter
Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones
Darkness Hunts by Keri Arthur

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

* Monday- A Giveaway went up with my review of DEITY by Jennifer L Armentrout for her Book release Tour

* Thursday- A Guest Post by Krystal Wade went up with a Giveaway for her Darkness Falls blog Tour

* Lots of winners were chosen this week and not all have claimed their prizes so make sure you check your spam folder if you saw that you were a winner. 
 

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

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

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize: 2 Ebook copy of winners choice (Don't Bite the Messenger (book #0.5) or Running in the Dark)

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Winner: Follower Only Giveaway!!!

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Prize: Grab bag/box of books

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Winners: Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher

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Prize: 3 Paperback Copies of Ghost Planet

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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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