Early Review: Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Written in Red
Author:Anne Bishop
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: NAL
The Others Book #1
ISBN:   0451464966
ISBN13: 9780451464965
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

I never imagined I would enjoy WRITTEN IN RED as much as I did. I could not seem to put it down and when it ended I wished there was information on what the next book would be about to settle my roaming mind that just wanted to know more. 

The world that Anne Bishop has written for The Others series is phenomenal. Her world is filled with just about every mythical and paranormal character you can think of and more. There is plenty of history and back story. The humans and the Terra Indigene live separately and despise each other for the most part. Simon Wolfgard runs Lakeside Courtyard a bit differently as he allows humans to come and shop in a certain area of their community. With that he also has a few human employees and is intrigued enough to hire Meg when she stumbles in his store half frozen and applies for the Human Liaison Job. Meg is a blood prophet who ran away and is hiding from those that have kept her and controlled every moment of her life. When she stumbles upon the others community she has hope that it will keep her safe. She is a lot different from other female heroine's. Meg was both innocent and fierce. She doesn't know anything about life outside of where she was kept besides what she has read or was shown in movies. She treats the others in ways that they have not seen before and they all quickly fall in love with her.

Be careful when you pick up WRITTEN IN RED, you might just get stuck between the pages with no way out!! The whole story flowed really well from the first sentence to the last and I honestly can't wait to see what will happen next for Meg and the rest of the wonderful characters.

I gave it 5/5 stars

Interview: A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

UFI welcomes Bella Forrest Author of A Shade of Vampire. Thanks for Joining us!!

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an actress, a salsa dancer, an artist or a chef. 

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

Reading. But unfortunately, I haven’t had much down time recently.

What is your Favorite part of writing?

Typing the final words of the story. It’s an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?

I don’t have any routines I *must* follow, but I have some I *like* to follow, such as waking up to write in the early hours of the morning.

What can you tell me about the world that A Shade of Vampire is set in?

Briefly: The Shade is an uncharted island that has been cursed by a witch to always remain in darkness. Here, the vampires live in giant tree houses atop towering redwood trees.

Do you have a favorite scene in A Shade of Vampire?

The end scene is my favorite.

Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?

Derek is my favorite character to write about. He has a very interesting headspace to step into.

His evil brother Lucas is probably the most difficult.

What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?

The sequel to A Shade of Vampire!

 

__________________________________

 Author Bio: I've been telling stories pretty much since I could talk. Instead of having my parents read me bed-time stories, I would prefer to share with them my own made up tales.

As I grew older, I developed a passion for the fantasy genre.

I’m an avid reader and a hopeless Potterhead.

If you sign up for personal email updates from me here: www.forrestbooks.com ,
you'll be the first to hear about my new releases.

Find Bella and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

__________________________________

A Shade of Vampire

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

__________________________________

Excerpt from A Shade of Vampire:

I’d been meandering along the shore for about an hour when I suddenly sensed that I wasn’t alone. Someone was approaching me from behind. My heart leapt. I was so sure it was Ben, that when a stranger showed up beside me, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

He must have noticed, because a smirk formed on his lips. “Were you expecting someone else, love?”

I eyed him suspiciously, remembering how many times my father had told me not to talk to strangers. I looked him over, taking in his appearance. My eyes widened. I couldn’t find words to describe how fine a man he was. He was almost beautiful. The first thing I took notice of was how his blue eyes were about three shades brighter than any I’d ever seen before. It was such a stark contrast to his pale – almost white – skin and dark hair. Standing beside me, he was easily more than half a foot taller. His height, broad shoulders and lean build reminded me of Ben, but he had a presence that was far more imposing than my best friend’s.

My gaze settled on his face.

I realized that he was inspecting me just as closely as I was him. His eyes on me suddenly made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable. I gave my father’s advice a second thought, but quickly canceled out all notions of heeding to his counsel when I reminded myself that he stopped caring a long time ago.

I straightened to my full height and mustered all the courage I had to keep myself from running away from this stranger.

Big mistake.

The confident smirk didn’t leave his face for even a moment.

“Like what you see?”

“A bit full of yourself, aren’t you?” I scoffed, annoyed by his audacity.

He stepped forward, closer to me, and leaned his head toward mine.

“Don’t I have the right to be?”

He knew he looked good and wasn’t about to act like he didn’t.

“Whatever,” was my oh-so-brilliant comeback.

My shoulders sagged with defeat as I took a step back, unsettled by how close he was now. I rolled my eyes and did a one-eighty, not quite in the mood to play whatever game this stranger was proposing.

I would soon realize that I was about to play his game whether I liked it or not.

He grabbed my arm and turned my body to face him. This motion alone made every single internal alarm I had within me go off in a frenzy.

This man was danger and I knew it. I tried to wriggle away from his touch, but I was no match for his strength.

“Tell me your name,” he commanded.

I was about to refuse, but was horrified to find myself blurting out my name in response.

“Sofia Claremont.”

As soon as I revealed my name, his eyes lit up with a kind of sinister approval. Then he reached for my face and traced his thumb over my jaw line.

“Hello, Sofia Claremont. You’re one stupid girl for taking a walk alone at this time of night. You never know what kind of evil a pretty little thing like you could happen to come by.”

I found myself wondering exactly what kind of evil he was. But I was suddenly overcome by the sensations that were surrounding me. My senses took in everything at once. I heard the waves, felt the sand, smelled the ocean salt, tasted the flavor of cherry and saw the stranger’s manic appearance as he stuck a needle to my neck. The effect was instant. I was barely able to gasp, much less scream. I went from sensing everything to sensing absolutely nothing.

My last conscious thought was that I may never see Ben again.

You can also get an exclusive FREE “sneak preview” of the first 6 chapters by clicking here!: http://forrestbooks.com/sneakpeek.html

 

__________________________________