Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Promo & Giveaway: Vampires need not ... Apply? by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Vampires Need Not ... Apply? 
Accidentally Yours #4 
Amazon Barnes and Noble iTunes
Impending apocalypse. Check.

Leaders of the gods' army captured. Check. Check.

Three slightly ticked off women now charged with saving the world while the gods fall apart, the good vampires go on holiday, the bad guys are popping up everywhere. Check. Check. Check.

Help is on the way. Check?

Meet Dr. Antonio Acero, a world-renowned physicist whose life is about to take a turn for the worst. And the bizarre. While on vacation in southern Mexico, Antonio discovers an ancient Mayan tablet. Local legends say it contains magical properties, properties that could put his stalling research on the map. But is this really his lucky break? When Antonio attempts to put the tablet to use, he'll discover that Fate has other plans. And her name is Ixtab.
__________________________________

Excerpt:

New Year’s Day. New York City
               “Save me. Please save me.”
               “Dammit. Where are you?” Thirty-four-year-old Antonio Acero frantically searched the dark, empty, cavernous room, helplessly listening to the woman’s cries.
               “Time is running out. You must work faster,” she wailed.
               “I am doing everything I can,” he called out, his voice bouncing off the bare, smooth walls. “But I can’t get to you. If you just tell me…” Two catlike eyes punched through the darkness, sucking the words from his mind. He wanted to see more of her, to touch her. He felt like he might become the one who needed saving if he did not.
               “Save me. Please save me,” the woman repeated. “Time is running out. I have the answers you need, but you must work faster. Destiny—”
               Antonio catapulted from his deep slumber, dripping in cold sweat. “Puta madre, ” he whispered and flipped on his stainless steel reading lamp. It had been the same damned nightmare every night for the last month. Ever since he’d found that fucking tablet in Mexico. Or had it found him?
Doesn’t matter. It’s what you were looking for, the answer to your prayers.
               “Everything all right, baby?” A silky arm slipped out from beneath the steel-gray satin sheets and rubbed his bare thigh.
               “Uh… yeah. Sure.” He looked down at the mop of brown hair. Her face was as obscure as her name.
Mierda. What was he doing? It didn’t matter how many women he brought home, he couldn’t wash her—the woman in his dreams—from his mind.
               He slid from bed and plucked his discarded tee and boxer briefs from the floor. On his way to the kitchen, he slipped them on and tried not to punch something.
Dammit. The dreams were only getting worse, more vivid, more frantic with every passing night.
               He yanked open the fridge, pushed past the Odwallas and beer, and grabbed the soy milk. He knew this madness didn’t make sense, but what the hell did that matter? The dreams kept coming. Scotch—the good stuff—sex, hypnosis didn’t matter. Every night she came. Every night he woke. Every day he worked and didn’t stop until his mind reached exhaustion. And even then, he couldn’t stop thinking about the tablet.
Or her…
Shit. What was happening to him?
__________________________________

Before taking up a permanent residence in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mimi spent time living near NYC (became a shopaholic), in Mexico City (developed a taste for very spicy food), and Arizona (now hates jumping chollas, but pines for sherbet sunsets). Her love of pre-Hispanic culture, big cities, and romance inspires her to write when she's not busy with kids, hubby, work, and life...or getting sucked into a juicy novel. 

She hopes that someday leather pants for men will make a big comeback and that her writing might make you laugh when you need it most.
Find Mimi and her books
__________________________________

__________________________________
Tour Wide 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Releases: 3/23-3/29


Tue March 25
 
 Bite Me (Pride #9) by Shelly Laurenston 
 Code Zero (Joe Ledger #6) by Jonathan Maberry  
 Foamers by Justin Kassab  
 The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston 
 Six months (Seven #2) by Dannika Dark
 Smasher by Scott Bly
 Wanderers (Wasteland #2) by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan 

Happy Reading!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Covet March Release Blast


Covets have all the sexiness, emotion, and happily ever after that readers have come to expect and love from Entangled. They are firmly grounded in the contemporary world, but each novel brings in supernatural twists, breaking the contemporary and paranormal rules, alike. To find out more about their titles, chat with authors, participate in special events, and to find out what books you’ll be coveting next, visit the Entangled website, follow them on Twitter, LIKE their Facebook page, and join the Book Club.


Today I'm happy to be featuring Covet's March releases:



Sex and the Single Vamp by Robin Covington

Special $0.99 Introductory Price!


Cici Trent, vampire and media darling, spends her days finding true love for humans and supernaturals (the “Others”) at her dating agency. But someone is trying to sabotage her business and she needs help. Unfortunately, the best man for the job is the one who broke her still-beating heart two hundred fifty-four years ago.


Deacon is a patient vampire. He’s only loved one woman in over three hundred years— CiCi— and she chose another. So when she shows up in his office asking for help, he finally has the chance to lay that demon to rest. He’ll help her, but for a price—a night in his bed.


Adrenaline, mischief, and a little late-night B&E light the passion that even a couple of lifetimes couldn’t put out. But Deacon has a secret and when Cici is suddenly mortal, his deception might be the only way restore her immortality. Can love bridge the gap between a heartbeat and forever?




Love and Other Cosmic Nonsense by A.D. Marrow

Special $0.99 Introductory Price!

Breaking it off with her long-time non-magical boyfriend, Evan, was for his own good. At least that’s what Maggie Owen tells herself. After all, a witch and a human can have no future together. Her vision told her so. But now it seems the universe is exacting revenge for upsetting the balance of what “should be” and her heart is telling her she was wrong.

Evan Jackson can’t believe his bad luck. It’s been a year since Maggie broke his heart, and now his business partner has hired her as their new receptionist. Fine, they need the help. But no way will he let her get close again. He can’t take another heartbreak from the woman he still dreams about, even if it feels like there’s still a magical pull between them.

Being in the same building with Evan is a start, but it’s going to take more than Maggie’s special talents and a wink to get the hard-hearted bad-boy to see that love is really more than just cosmic nonsense and set the universe back into balance.




Also don't miss:


January's releases, Love At Stake and Haunt Me, are on sale for only for a limited time only! If you missed out before, now's your chance to snap them up at just $0.99 each!

(Click on the covers to grab the limited time deals)







a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Week in Review: 3/16-3/22


Books I've Bought/received

* Vampire's Hunger by Cynthia Garner- eARC- NetGalley

* Deadly Curiosities by Gail Z. Martin- eARC- Netgalley

* Frozen Desires by Jessie Donovan- eCopy- Author

* Shift Happens by J.C. McKenzie- Ecopy- Author

* Before the Storm by Claire Ashgrove- eARC- Author

* Shattered Secrets by Krystal Wade- eARC- NetGalley

Books I've Read

Deceiving the Witch Next Door by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez
Bloodfire by Helen Harper
Blood Magic by Helen Harper
Blodrage by Helen Harper
Blood Politics by Helen Harper
Bloodlust by Helen Harper

Reviews Posted

ARV-3 by Cameo Renae
Killer Frost by Jennifer Estep
The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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

* Monday- Guest Blog and Giveaway for Dead Awakening by Rebekah R. Garniere

* Thursday- Guest Blog for Wild Card by Jamie Wyman

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

* 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.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Review: ARV-3 by Cameo Renae

ARV-3
Author: Cameo Renae
Release Date: December 31, 2013
Publisher: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing
ISBN:  1939769507
ISBN13: 9781939769503
Genre: Dystopian
Review Copy Source: NetGalley
The beginning of the end. The Apocalypse.

A nuclear fallout wiped out every living thing on the planet, except for a few thousand of us who took shelter in underground bunkers across the globe. Now, after thirteen long years, we were finally able to return to the topside to begin to rebuild.
We thought we were alone. We were never more wrong.
Before the fallout, scientists had worked on creating an anti-radiation vaccine (ARV). The first two attempts failed, but despite the incomplete tests and results, the government approved and distributed the third serum to the masses in an effort to aid those who had no shelter.
It worked, keeping those who remained on the topside alive, but it also altered and mutated them. This new and infectious threat had completely outnumbered us. Now, we not only had to rebuild our planet. We would have to fight for it.
My name is Abigail Park. I’m seventeen, and this is my story.


ARV-3 follows Abigail Park and her hive mates as they leave their home of 13 years and journey to the safe zone that is set up for all the hives. Before they set out the learn that those who survived the nuclear fallout have changed into these zombie like creatures that will make their journey even harder. The haven they thought they were going to isn't quite what they expected either. 

I really liked Abigail. She was born before the fallout but grew up in the hive with her family and friends. She is in peak physical shape, she has trained in weaponry, she knows how to take care of herself and she is very personable. She is wise beyond her years but still has some of those innocent moments. Right before her group sets out her and her best friend realize their attraction for each other is mutual and decide to give their relationship the go as well so there is a nice romance behind the story as well. 

The author did a fantastic job of building her world and story. We get lots of information without it all being dumped on us and making you overwhelmed. The Arvies are well described and depicted. The action is intense and keeps you glued to the pages. I wasn't overly shocked by what the group found when they got the the safe zone but that is because I knew it wouldn't be all butterflies and rainbows. Its a Dystopian after all. I enjoyed many of the characters that were introduced and was a little shocked at their willingness or unwillingness to help at certain times in the book.

I have high hopes for the next book in the series. I have what I would love to happen planned out in my head and I know I am going to get so angry when it doesn't go that way but I will read it just the same in hopes that it does. 

I gave it 4/5 stars

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

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Guest Blog: Wild Card by Jamie Wyman

UFI welcomes Jamie Wyman Author of Wild Card. Thanks for Joining us!!

*begin transmission* Hello? Hello is this thing on? Can anyone hear me? It’s me, Jamie Wyman. I don’t know what’s happened. I was typing and listening to the 90s grunge station, and the next thing I know I’m sitting in my bedroom circa 1995. If any of you can hear this, please…please, find a way to get me back to 2014 before my past self sees me and cringes that she is not, in fact, everything she thought she would be.

Oy vey, this place is a bit of a wreck. I mean, I wasn’t a slob, but… okay, I was a bit of a slob. Must be summer, because it looks like my closet threw up and covered my bedroom in the vomit of journals, clothes and CDs. I’m surrounded by posters of Jonathan Brandis and Christian Slater. They’re everywhere. Even on the ceiling. Holy crap! There’s the picture of me and Brandis. My parents had that blown up to poster size! I haven’t seen that thing in ages. 


Eee! And my Chucks! Wow… yeah, these are totally demolished. Must be last marching season’s troopers.
Multiple holes in the inner sides of both shoes from countless hours spent wearing them to marching band rehearsals. Soles worn to butter-softness and thinner than a supermodel’s photoshopped soul. Scribbles and scrawls written all over them. Tons of “anarchy” symbols, too. Holy wow, these were the best shoes of all time.

And my phone!!! I’d forgotten all about this phone! I just HAD to have it—along with the blue and black lava lamp—when I went birthday shopping at Spencer’s. Sure, it wouldn’t stay mounted to the wall and ended up just sitting there on the floor, open and clunky, but it was still better than some clear plastic thing from 1991. Do you have any idea how many hours I spent on this phone talking with my BFF Susana about how cute Jerry Sobota was? Guh! Sure, he said he didn’t *like* me like me, but I carried that torch, dammit. And we won’t even go into how often I talked to my boyfriend on that phone. This phone was pimp! 
 
Guys guys guys! My drumset is here! Jet black Ludwig Rocker LTD. Zildjian cymbals (10 inch splash, 14 inch crash and 20 inch ride), 2 black tambourines and Yamaha hardware. “Animal” (muppets) plush lives in the bass drum. Most often played while listening to Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Offspring and Aerosmith.

Oh, my gods, AEROSMITH! I loved them! There’s all my t-shirts that I hung on the wall. And EVERY. Damn. CD the band ever produced. And the music books of Get A Grip and the Greatest Hits album. And my bass guitar ready to learn Cryin’.

*spins in circles* Holy crap, this like some crazy time capsule! And my beanbag…My Weezer flag! And my copy of “The Crow” graphic novel. (Totally need to get that signed by James O’Barr when I see him at Phoenix Comic Con this year.) My notebooks of poetry and stories, all tied together with keychains….damn, I lost those in a flood a few years ago! And the Woodstock ’94 pictures I drew and hung on my door? And that stack of notes passed between classes from Susana, Pam. I used to sign all of them the same way: TLATEOTTMBY – “The Light at the End of the Tunnel May Be You”. Got that from an Aerosmith song and loved it. It was my thing. More notes…and a huge stack from my boyfriend.

Oh, dear, my boyfriend…. *blushes* There’s the necklace he gave me that I wove a hemp cord for because the original chain broke. 
 
Dude! Why did I hate myself so much as a teenager? Sure, I had some issues, but I played drums like a freakin’ deranged octopus. I had stellar friends, great taste in music and just as much fashion sense then as I have now. Nothing much has changed, honestly. I mean, physically there are grey hairs and more pounds and a bad back from all that marching band and drumline, but I’m still the same. I’m worlds away from who she was—who she thought she would be—and yet, I am her. And she was pretty damn cool. I should leave her a note and tell her that…
 
Wait… *transmission begins to fade* Guys, can you hear me? I think something’s happening. The room’s getting…it’s clearing out…Everything is gone. Oh, no…I’m looking out the window and there’s like eighty feet of snow on the ground. This paper on the window says “condemned”.
Where’s my stuff? Where the hell am I? Guys? GUYS?!!! Hurry….wherever you are, start singing “No Rain” by Blind Melon. Maybe it will create some sort of conduit—I’ll sing, too—and I can come home. Home to my daughter, my husband, my ohana, my cats and the me I’ve become. I’ve got sequels to WILD CARD to write. Hurry. If you’re there…sing for me!
*blast of light…static* 


Um…I’m in my house now. My real house. At my computer in 2014. TyGrr is being insane and my daughter left her breakfast dishes on the floor. Again. *sigh* Wow. That was close.
So, I was supposed to do a guest post for you on Urban Fantasy Investigations, but…well, after all that, I think I’m a little discombobulated. (I love the Spell Check recognizes that word. Just sayin’.) I’m going to sign off now. 


And remember…the light at the end of the tunnel may be you. Goodnight.
__________________________________

After a misspent adulthood pursuing a Music Education degree, JAMIE WYMAN fostered several interests before discovering that being an author means never having to get out of pajamas. (However, she can eat/spin fire, tell you a lot about auditioning to be a Blue Man, and read/write in Circular Gallifreyan.) As an author, Jamie’s favorite playgrounds are urban fantasy, horror and creepy carnival settings. When she’s not traipsing about with her imaginary friends, she lives in Phoenix with two hobbits and two cats. She is proud to say she has a deeply disturbed following at her blog.

Jamie’s debut novel WILD CARD (Entangled Edge, 2013) is available wherever ebooks are sold. You can also find her short story “The Clever One” in the anthology WHEN THE HERO COMES HOME 2 (Dragon Moon Press, August ’13). Jamie has contributed to the SF Signal’s “Mind Meld” feature as well as the flash fiction contests on Chuck Wendig’s blog.
Find Jamie and her books
__________________________________

Wild Card
 It was bad enough that gods gambled with human souls, but Catherine Sharp’s soul just had to be won by the Greek goddess of Discord, Eris. As if working a dead-end tech support job didn’t suck the life out of her as it was. Now, Cat finds herself performing random tasks for the goddess in her free time.

But when Coyote, the Native American trickster himself, claims to have won her own soul in Mayhem’s weekly poker game, Cat wants in on the action. With five sneaky gods upping the ante, Cat needs to find a way to collect the winning chips that could save her soul.
Marius, a handsome yet irritating satyr with his own debt to Eris, might finally come in handy for something. If they play their cards right and work together, Cat and Marius may just get their freedom back. If they don’t kill each other—or fall in love—first.
__________________________________
 

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Review: Killer Frost by Jennifer Estep

Killer Frost
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Publisher: Kensington
ISBN:  0758281544
ISBN13: 9780758281548
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source:NetGalley
I’ve battled the Reapers of Chaos before–and survived. But this time I have a Bad, Bad Feeling it’s going to be a fight to the death … most likely mine.

Yeah, I’ve got my psychometry magic, my talking sword, Vic–and even the most dangerous Spartan on campus at my side, in Logan freaking Quinn, but I’m no match for Loki, the evil Norse god of chaos. I may be Nike’s Champion, but at heart, I’m still just Gwen Frost, that weird Gypsy girl everyone at school loves to gossip about.

Then someone I love is put in more danger than ever before, and something inside me snaps. This time, Loki and his Reapers are going down for good … or I am.

KILLER FROST is the last book in the Mythos Academy series. All of Gwen's allies are present to help defeat the Reapers and Loki for good. As Nike's Champion it's said that Gwen will be the one to defeat Loki but she still has no clue how and doubts she is any match for him.

It was great seeing all the world and character development we have witnessed since FIRST FROST come to a head in the final book. There were plenty of shocks that will throw you through a loop. I don't want to spoil anything and I have said a lot about the series in previous book reviews but know that the pace was great and the final battle did the series justice. It wasn't too short, too easy or without its failures. Everyone was involved, no one was left unscathed and when it was time for Gwen to step up she did so even though she knew the sacrifice to herself would be great.

It was fun getting to know Gwen and her friends and I will miss the series but the conclusion was satisfying.

I gave it 4/5 stars

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