Review: For the Blood by Debbie Cassidy (@amoscassidy)

For the Blood

Author: Debbie Cassidy

Release Date: December 27, 2018

Publisher: Self-Published

For the Blood Book #1

ASIN:  B07HVTMQXL

Genre: Apocalyptic Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

Stay alive at all costs. No attachments, no looking back, no emotion.

The last thing my father gave me was a key. No explanation, no details, just a key. The last thing he asked of me was to take the key to a set of co-ordinates. But survival in a fallen world filled with Feral isn't easy. The Fangs and the Claws, once upstanding members of society are now slave to the virus, hunting indiscriminately under a perpetually full moon.

There is no hope. There is no haven. Not alone. Not until them.

They are a new breed of monster—beasts of both fang and fur. Unaffected by the sickness, they crave only one thing, and it runs through my veins. Survive, my father said. Look out for no one except yourself. But sometimes the only way to survive is to make attachments. Sometimes the only way to live is to accept a dance with death. And right now, for me, the path to survival is in the blood.
Here’s to hoping it doesn’t kill me.

The Vampire Diaries meets The Walking Dead in this Post-Apocalyptic Urban Fantasy with a slow burn Why Choose romance

I'm intrigued and look forward to reading more.

Eva was likable. She is a strong female who knows that she can't give a crap about everything going on around her if she wants to stay alive, but is still willing to sacrifice her life for a few things she believes in. She has had to fight really hard to get to the co-ordinates her dad left her before he died and it shows in the way she thinks about things.

Let's talk about the men in this series. I don't really feel like I KNOW any of them yet, but from what I do know so far I have a few thoughts. I'm not quite sure if I want Tobias to be found. I mean, it would be nice for him not to be dead at the hands of the feral fang, but I don't totally have a strong preference for him to make it back into the story or not. I really like Ash. In fact, I liked him from the moment he was introduced, there was no time needed to like him.  I need to find out more about Jace. He kinda just IS at the moment with no real feelings on my part for or against him. Logan comes off as a bit of an ass, but I don't dislike him. Noah grew on my over time, but I like him and want to know more about him. I see multiple sparks forming.

The plot drew me in and I feel like the information that we have gotten so far has been enough for me to get into the storyline, but there is definitely some more world building to be done. The action is strong in FOR THE BLOOD and starts pretty quickly upon starting to read. It did take me a chapter or two to get into the story as it took me a bit to figure out what was happening, but I had no problem staying in once I was there. I plan to read more from this series.

I gave it 4/5 stars

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

Week in Review: 12/30-1/5

Books Received for Review

Nothing this week.....

Books I've Read

Magic Bites by Leia Stone
The Lost and the Chosen by Ivy Asher
Gravestones + Wicked Bones by D.D. Miers
Shift by Karina Espinosa

Reviews Posted

Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet (@AuthorABouchet, @SourcebooksCasa)

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

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

* Monday- Happy New Year...2018 in Review!

* Wednesday- Promo + Giveaway: Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet (@AuthorABouchet, @SourcebooksCasa)

* Friday- Promo + Giveaway: Cowboy Wolf Trouble by Kait Ballenger (@kait_ballenger , @SourcebooksCasa)

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

* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

BlogLovin

Networked Blogs

Facebook
Pinterest Board
Amazon
BookBub

You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.

Twitter

Goodreads

Librarything

Google+

 

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

Promo + Giveaway: Cowboy Wolf Trouble by Kait Ballenger (@kait_ballenger , @SourcebooksCasa)

Cowboy Wolf Trouble
Seven Range Shifters #1
Amazon  BN  Kobo  Apple

Seven shifter clans call the Montana mountains home.

But a new evil will stop at nothing to tear their world apart.

For centuries, the shifters that roam Big Sky country have honored a pact to keep the peace. Even bad-boy rancher Wes Calhoun, former leader of a renegade pack, has given up his violent ways and sworn loyalty to the Grey Wolves. But his dark past keeps catching up with him…

Human rancher Naomi Evans cares only about saving the ranch that was her father’s legacy. Until a clash with Wes opens up a whole new world—a supernatural world on the verge of war—and Naomi, her ranch, and the sexy cowboy wolf stealing her heart are smack dab in the middle of it. 

Excerpt:

“You slaughtered my livestock.” Her voice was feminine, but deep in a way that stirred low in Wes’ belly. To his ears, the noise sounded incredibly human and unintimidating, yet it raised his hackles. For a woman whose life he’d spared, then saved from the hands of the Wild Eight soon to be prowling her lands, her thanks had been shooting at him and now blaming him for petty ranch theft.

    “I didn’t kill your livestock.” Slowly, he pushed into a plank position above her before he stood. He’d take his chance with her running again if it meant escaping the hazy fog her scent flooded over his brain.

    She scrambled to her feet with some complication considering her hands remained bound. Her full lips pulled into a scowl. “Evidence says otherwise. After all, you were the one in the trap not far from the sheep’s pen. Not to mention, I smelled it on you just now.”

    “Trust me, sweetheart, if I wanted a mutton steak, I’d take a chomp out of my pack’s flock.” He didn’t know which bristled him more, the accusation that he’d murdered her flock or the fact that she implied he smelled like the inside of a barn. Which he likely did at the moment, considering he’d spent the morning herding a couple hundred of the Grey Wolf calves into the barn so they could begin preparing to take them to market soon, but that was beside the point. “If it’s the blood you’re referring to, that’s the blood of my enemies. Not your precious lambs.”

    She struggled with the bindings at her wrists, attempting to remove them to no luck. “I won’t take your word for it.”

    “You’re a feisty one, huh?” He shook his head. What the hell had he gotten himself into? She was a pistol, and he liked irritating her. Every time those gorgeous brown eyes blazed in challenge his head filled with naughty thoughts. He’d always had far too much appreciation for feisty women.

    “If you wanted cooperation, maybe you shouldn’t have abducted me from my pasture.”

    “You had a gun to my head,” he said.

    “You ate Lambie,” she countered.

    When the frustration on his face made it clear, he had no clue what she was blabbering on about, she sighed. “My sheep,” she elaborated. “A wolf has been killing them. My guess is that’s why I caught you in the trap my idiot brother set.”

    “You name your livestock?” His gaze swept over her. From her faded jeans, cowgirl boots, and the worn overlaid suede jacket, she looked as if she knew her way around the ranchlands. Ebony hair, dark skin, and sharp sculpted cheeks, said she was Native American. Thanks to the language she’d muttered earlier and considering their proximity to the reservation, he guessed Crow Tribe. Crow Agency was only a few hours drive from here.

    “Just one: the sheep that you slaughtered two weeks ago. His name was Lambie, and he was a sweet, gentle yew. My father gave him to me when I was ten. The only thing worse would’ve been if you killed our family ranch dog, Blue. You’re lucky he’s with my brother right now or he would have taken a good chunk out of one of your back legs.”

    Wes stared open-mouthed at the woman before him. He wasn’t even sure where to begin.  Who did she think she was, Little Bo Peep? Call him ignorant, but as far as he knew, no rancher in their right mind named their flock like they were house pets.

    When he’d been stuck in her trap and she’d stared down at him in wolf form, apologizing for holding her gun on him, he’d imagined the Wild Eight wolves turning around in search of him, but instead finding her and something inside him had snapped. In that moment, he’d been back there again. The memory shook him and he’d imagined himself in that godforsaken bedroom, blood dripping from him and an innocent woman...

    He closed his eyes, and released a long exhale. He hadn’t been able to bear the thought.

    So he’d shifted in front of her. Pack law be damned. He’d done it both because he had no other way to escape the trap he’d been locked in—not without opposable thumbs—and also to warn her. The Wild Eight were bound to circle back looking for him, and with their blood pulsing from the night’s battles, if she managed to get in their way, an innocent human female like her would serve as nothing more than a bloody diversion to them. He knew they weren’t safe. Not even now that they were hidden in the forests of the Grey Wolves territory again.

    She was a stranger to him, but he wouldn’t allow those monsters to kill another innocent. Though he should have taken her life as pack law dictated when she’d laid passed out in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to kill an innocent. Not again.

__________________________________

ROMANCE AUTHOR, WORLD TRAVELER, ENGLISH PROFESSOR, AND FORMER PROFESSIONAL BELLYDANCER, Kait Ballenger hated reading when she was a child, because she was horrible at it. Then by chance she picked up the Harry Potter series at the age of eight, fell in love with reading, and never looked back. When she realized she could tell her own stories, the deal was sealed.
After stints working as a real vampire (aka a phlebotomist), a bingo caller, and a professional bellydancer, Kait finally decided that her eight-year-old self knew best: Kait’s meant to be a writer...though the jury is still out on being the next J.K Rowling.

When Kait’s not preoccupied with writing captivating paranormal romance, page-turning suspense or love scenes that make even seasoned romance readers blush, she can usually be found spending time with her family or with her nose buried in a good book. She lives in Florida with her husband and young son.

And yes, she can still bellydance with the best of them

Find Kait and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

__________________________________

Tour Wide

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet (@AuthorABouchet, @SourcebooksCasa)

Nightchaser

Author: Amanda Bouchet

Release Date: January 1, 2019

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Endeavor Book #1

ISBN:   0349420874

ISBN13: 9780349420875

Genre: SciFi Fantasy

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

A delicious new heart-pounding romantic adventure from USA Today bestseller Amanda Bouchet!

Captain Tess Bailey and her crew of Robin Hood-like thieves are desperate and on the run. Pursued by a vicious military general who wants them dead or alive, Tess has to decide if she can trust Shade Ganavan, a tall, dark and arrogant stranger with ambiguous motivations.

Shade Ganavan had oodles of arrogance, oodles of charm, and oodles of something that made me want to kick him in the nuts.

What Tess and Shade don’t know about each other might get them killed…unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other—while ignoring their off-the-charts chemistry.

I truly loved everything about NIGHTCHASER.

I love a badass female and Tess definitely fit the bill. She started out as a huge mystery, but I loved unraveling her story in NIGHTCHASER. Shade was also mysterious and a bit cocky, but in a sexy confident way. I really enjoyed Tess and Shade together. It took awhile for them to get past their dance of mistrust, but their personalities and chemistry really worked.

The other characters in NIGHTCHASER were just as strong as the main characters. Tess' crew all meshed well and brought a ton to the story. I enjoyed learning everything that was revealed about them.

The Endeavor world is complex, but what we have gotten so far has been well built. There was plenty of danger involved in NIGHTCHASER and their were plenty of times that I was left on the edge of my seat.

NIGHTCHASER introduces the Endeavor series with a bang and I hope that STARBREAKER lives up to it. Unfortunately we have to wait until April 2020 to find out.

I gave it 5/5 stars

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

Promo + Giveaway: Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet (@AuthorABouchet, @SourcebooksCasa)

Nightchaser
Endeavor #1
Amazon  BN  Kobo  Apple

A delicious new heart-pounding romantic adventure from USA Today bestseller Amanda Bouchet!

Captain Tess Bailey and her crew of Robin Hood-like thieves are desperate and on the run. Pursued by a vicious military general who wants them dead or alive, Tess has to decide if she can trust Shade Ganavan, a tall, dark and arrogant stranger with ambiguous motivations.

Shade Ganavan had oodles of arrogance, oodles of charm, and oodles of something that made me want to kick him in the nuts.

What Tess and Shade don’t know about each other might get them killed…unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other—while ignoring their off-the-charts chemistry.

Excerpt #2

Two people on the avenue at the bottom of the Squirrel Tree both directed me to the same place: Ganavan’s Products and Parts. It wasn’t too far—still in the docking district and within easy walking distance—so I figured it was a good place to start.

I found the shop at the base of a towering, warehouse-type structure. It was recessed into the ground a few feet, requiring me to take a short flight of stairs down to access it from street level. A bell tinkled over the door when I swung it open, surprising me with the light, merry chiming. I couldn’t help appreciating the quaint touch in the otherwise industrial setting of the city’s sprawling, somewhat dingy docks.

Inside, the shop was bigger than I’d expected and crowded with metallic shelving packed with more stuff than any space rat could ever possibly want. It was almost overwhelming—and half of it was covered in dust. Motes twirled in the air, floating in the sunbeams streaming in through the high-up windows that let in most of the shop’s light.

I didn’t see anyone behind the register to query about repairs, so I walked the aisles, looking for anything that might be of use. I picked up forty rounds of LW-9 bullets in a sleek metal case for our Grayhawk handguns, but I didn’t really need things like the rest of this—gadgets and doodads and crap. I needed reinforced metal panels and someone who could weld them onto my ship.

I scanned the shelves for fuses and wiring, too, but didn’t see anything. The Endeavor’s electrical components weren’t in great shape, even with Big Guy’s brief help, and my console was currently dead. I’d have to see, but I hoped Jaxon would end up being enough of an electrician to fix it. When it came to a ship’s central power grid, I had some skills myself.

“Can I help you?” a man asked.

I turned and watched the speaker walk toward me from what looked like a back office, his steps silent and almost prowling. Despite his height and imposing physique, I might not have heard him coming if he hadn’t made his presence known.

Was this Ganavan? He was tall, with at least a few inches on me. He was wide, too, but mainly in the shoulders. His body looked healthy and trim. Like me, I thought his origins could probably be traced back to pre-exodus Caucasian. Unlike me, he had a healthy tan.

The fact that he was tall, dark, and hot didn’t stop my usual default mode from kicking in—to assess any stranger I met and determine how I would try to bring that person down in a fight.

I came up with a defensive scenario before he got too close. A ducking spin as he came at me, his own weight hopefully throwing him off-balance as I slid out of the way. A quick, hard kick to the back of a knee to get him lower than me. A sleeper hold from behind with my arm in a tight V around his neck, cutting off the blood flow through his arteries. With any luck, I could knock him out without ever touching his windpipe.

Unfortunately, looking at him, I estimated my chances of success with any of that at about eight percent, which made me glad there was no reason to think he was unfriendly.

He watched me, too, his brown eyes like lasers. I’d rarely been subjected to such a steady stare, especially from a gaze that held definite hints of interest and appreciation. My body started to heat from more than just the sunlight filtering down from the high windows. The light hit him at an angle, turning his eyes a tawny amber, like those of a jungle predator.

No. A jungle animal would scare me, and this man didn’t, despite his obvious physical advantage. His eyes were more the color of dark honey, appealing, all warm and tempting in the sun.

My taste buds seemed to burst to life with the memory of sweetness on my tongue. Starway 8 was one of the few places left in the galaxy with an actual apiary, and the liquid gold the director sold to the wealthy elite in Sector 12 was the main source of revenue for the orphanage. This man’s eyes looked just like honey number seven—my favorite. Almost the darkest. The darker honeys had more flavor.

He stopped a few feet from me, and those honey-brown eyes dipped, taking me in from my head to my toes. My clothing was skintight, and I felt a blush flare under his slow inspection.

Finally, he looked up. “Just checking for weapons.”

I snorted. “Really? Weapons? I haven’t heard that one before.”

He winked at me like the scoundrel I highly suspected he was. “We’re inventive out here in 2. Where’re you from?”

“What makes you think I’m not from here?”

“You’re a 12-er. I can hear it in your posh voice.”

Time seemed to slow down as my mind processed his words one by one, even though it only took a second. I hardly spoke to anyone besides my crew, and they didn’t care what I sounded like. Blurring my trail outside of the Endeavor meant it was time to work on a new accent, though. It was too bad. The precise, cut-glass diction was one of the only things I liked about Sector 12.

__________________________________

Amanda Bouchet grew up in New England where she spent much of her time tromping around in the woods and making up grand adventures in her head. It was inevitable that one day she would start writing them down. Drawing on her Greek heritage for the setting and on her love of all things daring and romantic for the rest, her debut trilogy, The Kingmaker Chronicles, took form. She writes what she loves to read: epic exploits, steamy romance, and characters that make you laugh and cry.

A French master’s graduate and former English teacher, Amanda lives in Paris, France. She met her husband while studying abroad, and the family now includes two bilingual children who will soon be correcting her French.

Find Amanda and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

__________________________________

Tour Wide

#1: $250 prize pack – giveaway runs through 1/8:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#2: Book giveaway – giveaway runs through 1/22:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Releases: 12/30-1/5

Mon. Dec. 31

Evermore (Everless #2) by Sara Holland
Siege of Stone (Sister of Darkness: The Nicci Chronicles #3) by Terry Goodkind

Tue. Jan. 1st

Cowboy Wolf Trouble (Seven Range Shifters #1) by Kait Ballenger
Nightchaser (Endeavor #1) by Amanda Bouchet
The Similars (The Similars #1) by Rebecca Hanover

Happy Reading!!

Happy New Year...2018 in Review!

In 2018 I.....

Read 199 books for a total of 62,479 pages

First book of the year I read was Guilty by Association by E.A. Copen 

Last book of the year I read was Vengeance Road  by Christine Feehan

The longest book I read was Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

The shortest book I read was Suffer a Sea-Change by Seanan McGuire

The most popular (on Goodreads) book I read was Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

The least popular (on Goodreads) book I read was A Tracker's Tale by Karen Avizur

Posted a total of 320 blog posts

with

81 of those being reviews

First review of the year was Everless by Sara Holland

Last review of the year was Scattered Plume by J.M. Miller

Was there anything about UFI in 2018 that sticks out as your favorite? How many books did you read in 2018?

Here's to another fantastic year in 2019!