Monday, November 11, 2013

Promo & Giveaway: Bittersweet Magic by Nina Croft

Edge, a digital-first single-title romance line from Entangled Publishing, takes its lead from our popular Select imprint but gives its novels an edge in the marketplace by bringing great stories to readers at reasonable prices in a quick-and-easy way. Whether sexy or sweet, traditional romance or love and lust with a women’s fiction bent, at the center of every Edge book is heart. From Urban Fantasy to Contemporary Romance to Science Fiction Romance, Edge has a book for all romance readers—and right at their fingertips! As they say, all’s fair in love and war. To find out more about our titles, chat with authors, participate in special events, and to find out what books are coming next, visit the Entangled website, follow us on Twitter, and like our Facebook page.

Today I'm happy to be featuring Bittersweet Magic by Nina Croft! This followup to Bittersweet Blood is sure to please, but don't worry, it can easily be read as stand alone. Nina Croft's stories are Out of This World, so you won't want to miss this one!

Roz has been indebted to the demon Asmodai for five hundred years, and her freedom is just around the corner. All she has to do is complete one last task for him—obtain a key that had been hidden in a church centuries ago.
Piers, the Head of the Order and an ancient vampire, is intrigued by the woman who comes to him for help. She’s beautiful and seemingly kind, but she’s hiding something. And he’ll find out who she is and what she really wants once he uses his power to get inside her head. But Piers has no idea that Roz is immune to his mind-control...or that he is simply a pawn in her dangerous mission for freedom.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble


Author info:

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of nine-to-five work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.

Nina's writing mixes romance with elements of paranormal and science fiction.

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Happy Veterans Day!!

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." -Elmer Davis
Photo credit: Lance Cpl. John Suleski
Happy Veterans Day! 
To our men and women in uniform ... past, present, and future. Thank you for all that you do.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Week in Review: 11/3-11/9


Books Ive Bought/received

* The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison- eARC- Publisher/Edelweiss

* Born In Blood by Alexandra Ivy- eARC- Netgalley

* The Collection by Shannon Stoker- eARC- Edelweiss

* The Taking by Kimberly Derting- eARC- Edelweiss

* Irresistible Magic by Deanna Chase- eCopy- Netgalley

* Cursed By Destiny by Cecy Robson- eARC- Publisher/ Netgalley

Books I Read

Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Hunter by Jax
The Undead pool by Kim Harrison
Born in Blood by Alexandra Ivy

Reviews Posted

The Pulse by Shoshanna Evers
Darkness Splintered by Keri Arthur
Magic and Loss by Nancy A. Collins

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

* Monday- Guest Blog and Giveaway for Reflection of the Gods by Lisa Llamrei

* Tuesday- Guest Blog for Trancehack by Sonya Clark

* Wednesday- Guest Blog and Giveaway for Ghost Guard by J. Joseph Wright. Cover Reveal for White Heart of Justice by Jill Archer

* Thursday- Guest Blog and Giveaway for Less Than Perfect by Kelly Jensen

* Friday- Guest Blog and Giveaway for Forgotten in Darkness by Zoe Forward

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* 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.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Early Review: The Pulse by Shoshanna Evers

The Pulse
Release Date: November 25, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Star
ISBN:  1476728259
ISBN13: 9781476728254
Genre: Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Edelweiss



It’s been one year since an electromagnetic pulse destroyed America’s infrastructure and took down the power grid, throwing the country into a new Dark Age. Emily Rosen lives in a military camp at Grand Central Station, where women act as the soldiers’ private harem, selling their bodies on the tracks for extra rations. Emily escapes Grand Central and goes on the run from the soldiers intent on killing her for the secret she’s discovered—America is rebuilding outside of New York City, and everything the city’s refugees have been told is a lie.

Christopher Mason, a convict who broke out of prison after the Pulse, finds Emily before the soldiers do. Mason’s survived on the streets of New York City this long by looking out only for himself—but there’s something about the beautiful young woman that makes her impossible to leave behind. Now Emily must convince this intimidating, magnetic stranger to be her protector and guide as they journey out of New York and into the unknown. For Mason’s protection, Emily barters the only thing anyone’s valued since the Pulse—her body. But sex with Mason can never be just currency—it’s pure passion, and everything she desires.


*Please note that this is an x-rated kind of book and my review talks about it. 

I had many issues with this book. I felt the language was extremely vulgar for the circumstances. The women of the story were raped and forced to prostitute themselves for food and the terms used just didn't flow with that to me.

Emily escaped and was scared and broken yet when she met Christopher she threw herself at him and talked about how wet he made her. She was captured and brought back to grand central and one of the soldiers forced her to go down on him. When she got away and was back with Christopher she had flashbacks of the soldier making her do that and could not go down on him. Just didn't make sense to me that she had flashbacks from this but not the year of hell she just escaped.

At one point Christopher shot and killed someone who was attacking Emily and she totally went off the deep end of being mad. After all the things she was forced to do and endure I felt her reaction was overblown and didn't fit.

Every second Emily and Christopher are doing it. They are in a car trying to sleep yet they just have to have sex right then. They are in an unknown town with unknown people in the next room yet HAVE to have sex. Christopher leaves Emily at the town yet as soon as she comes upon him again they jump each other to have sex.  They just seemed to have the urge at every inopportune moment of the book.

Other than those issues the story was decent. The pacing of the story was good and the world building was interesting. I don't feel that I will bother with reading book 2 unfortunately because I couldn't stomach the character that will be the female lead. 

I gave it 2/5 stars 


* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Winner: Darkness Splintered by Keri Arthur

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

The Winner chosen by Rafflecopter is.....
Congrats!! I have emailed winner who has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or I will pick another.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Forgotten in Darkness by Zoe Forward

UFI welcomes Zoe Forward Author of The Scimitar Magi Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

Download Forgotten In Darkness FREE on Kindle until 11/9

Why you'll love Forgotten In Darkness

I’m thrilled to be celebrating my release of Forgotten in Darkness, the second in my paranormal romance Scimitar Magi series, here at Urban Fantasy Investigations! I’ve got a scrumptious excerpt for you down below, but first four reasons I think you just might love my new book.

Magi – The Magi are a bonded group of hard as nails, hot as fire, destined for one woman, alpha male defenders of the innocent. I just love everything about them. Their fierce protectiveness, their supernatural powers, and of course they’re just plain hot. Yeah, you can’t go wrong with gorgeous paranormal warriors!

Crazy Sexual Tension – From the first moment Dakar sees Shay, he not only wants her, he needs her. And he feels that need deep into his soul. The pull between them is so great because she is his senariai or soulmate. But there’s a catch. She is also the woman who has murdered him repeatedly for centuries because of their curse. This time around to break their curse he must resist their attraction and kill her first.

Alpha Hero – Dakar is a bad-ass, take-charge, no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoner kinda guy. His fighting ability and supernatural fire power are something to behold.

Destined Love —How can you not swoon over knowing there is one someone who is meant to complete you? One person who makes you whole? The senariai is this and so much more to her magus. She’s the only one who can save him from loosing his soul to evil.

Need more convincing? Read on…

As she pushed out of the shower, she [Shay] froze. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. The drip drip drip from her body onto the tile floor echoed in the room.
       Dakar rested casually against the doorframe. Yet there was nothing casual in the dark gaze that raked her from head to foot with a single encompassing look. Black sludge swirled in his golden eyes when his gaze returned to hers. The dark T-shirt and jeans hugged his massive frame, keeping few secrets.
       His vitality seared her like an almost palpable force.
       “Are you in any pain?” he asked. His gaze dropped to where the knife had struck, and then to her previously damaged thigh.
       She recovered, snagged the towel off the hook, and pulled it around her. Somehow even covered, she still felt exposed. “Did you even consider knocking before coming in?”
        His lips quirked and creases appeared at the edges of his eyes. “You would hide yourself from me?” He chuckled. “Pointless.”
       She whispered, “Please, get out of here.”
       “You have watched me. Even came to me the other day in a vision. We know each other.”
       “That was a dream. There’s no way you also—”
He whispered into her ear, “Did you enjoy taking advantage of me?”
       She jumped. How had he moved so fast? She turned away from him.
His arm wrapped around her, pulling her backwards, tight to his body. “I might be inclined to let you do so again.”
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Zoe Forward writes action-adventure paranormal romances. She lives in North Carolina with her family and an assortment of pets. A graduate of Duke University, she majored in biological anthropology, but always had a special love of archaeology, especially anything Egyptian. Although a deep part of her wishes she had pursued a career that would have her at a dig site in a hot, sandy country, she's a small animal veterinarian, caring for everything from chinchillas to dogs...and even one hermit crab in there. When she's not being a vet, a mom, or sneaking out to a movie with her husband, she's at her laptop writing.

Find Zoe and her books
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Forgotten In Darkness
Scimitar Magi #2
After an unjustified two-century stint in purgatory, Scimitar Magus Dakar returns to the human realm, renewing his eons-old curse. Once again he must murder the woman he loves. To break the vicious cycle, he must kill her before she strikes her deathblow, something he's never done in the past.

Archaeology grad student, Shay McGinnis, suffers a near-death attack in pursuit of a piece of Scimitar Magi lore. But did the magnificent warrior who pinned her to the wall injure her or the daemon he fought? In her search for answers, she draws the attention of both an ancient evil sorcerer and the warrior Dakar. The attraction between her and Dakar is instant, and for Shay confusing. She wants to be with him, but intuition equates him with death. Not random death. Hers.

Will this be the lifetime they break the curse before they are murdered by an age old enemy or worse kill each other yet again?

*Warning: Contains explicit sex, graphic language, action-adventure, and an exceptionally hot tatted hero.*
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 US Readers
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Review: Darkness Splintered by Keri Arthur

Darkness Splintered
Author: Keri Arthur
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Signet
Dark Angels Book #6
ISBN:  0451419596
ISBN13: 9780451419590
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

When Risa loses the second key to hell, she angers several powerful people, and she’s starting to feel the pressure from all sides. She gets a visit from her father, who gives her an ultimatum: Get back the key or he will kill her friends.

Risa also finds herself under the scrutiny of the vampire council, some of whom consider her a monster who should be destroyed. But they offer her a bloody bargain: Take on the lethal head of the council, Madeline Hunter, and others will support her.

As the search for the keys to hell heats up, Risa realizes that she has no choice. For the sake of the people she loves, she must find the keys — and get rid of Hunter — before the second gate is opened and brings the world closer to all hell breaking loose..

DARKNESS SPLINTERED picks right up after the events of DARKNESS UNMASKED. Risa is in a pretty bad state. Her father of course jumps right in and threatens the life of her friends so she has no time to wallow in her misery and jumps right back into the fray of finding the keys. There is plenty of action, suspense, danger and romance at every turn of the page.

I was disappointed in Risa as the book started. She not only put herself in danger but also the baby she is carrying. Thankfully her pity party doesn't last long. I am so over Risa's Dad, Madeline Hunter and all the others threatening her and using her to get what they want. I can not wait until she opens up a can of you know what and puts them all in their place. I just KNOW that it is coming. (It has to right?) The state of Risa and Azriel's relationship was in ruins at the end of DARKNESS UNMASKED, I don't want to give spoilers away but I will say that I felt how hurt Risa was and I am happy with how things played out in DARKNESS SPLINTERED. 

I am a tad disappointed (I guess I like that word today) with the pregnancy so far. Where is her morning sickness, her fear of hurting the baby? I just wasn't feeling it but then again it is still early on so maybe that is why. I can say without a shadow of doubt though that I have enjoyed watching Risa grow and adapt to her situation. I really can't wait to see how everything ends. 

The series is almost over, only 1 book left. Will Risa take her enemies down a peg? Will she close the gates? Will we get to see her baby born? So many questions, I am excited to find out the answers. 

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.