Happy Thanksgiving....

Gobble Gobble US Readers!!

Here is something that everyone can answer no matter where you live.... 

What book have you been thankful to read in 2017?

Guest Blog: Maid of Ice by Shona Husk

UFI welcomes Author Shona Husk. Thanks for Joining us!!

I like to try new things as new experiences provide new fodder for my imagination. In 2013 I did Tough Mudder (I thought it would be fun and challenging and it was). For me it was a way to experience a range of things that I wouldn’t normally get to do. I jumped into the ice bath. I leaped from a 5 meter high platform into cold muddy water. I climbed a mountain made of hay bales (those things are prickly, so a roll in the hay would be most uncomfortable). I also go to experience what it was like to be cold and wet and exhausted (it was a 20 kilometer course—I completed it in 4hrs). All things that I can use later to draw in when I write.

More recently hubby gave me a gift voucher to do some hot laps at a local track. So I suited up watched the safety lecture and got into the race car. My first few laps weren’t that fast as I had to learn when to brake and when to accelerate around the turns. By the end I was hurtling around at 180km/hr…at the speed it looks like the track is going to run out before it’s time to brake.

The hot laps were useful when I came to write the first scene for Maid of Ice as the hero plays a racecar driver on a soap opera. The only way he can save himself is to use magic…but how many people will notice? 

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Shona Husk is the author of over forty books that range from sensual to scorching, and cover the contemporary, paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance genres. Her most recent series are Face the Music, Blood and Silver and Annwyn. As well as writing romance she also writes sci-fi for the Takamo Universe game and urban fantasy under anther pen name.

She lives in Western Australia and when she isn’t writing or reading she loves to cook, cross stitch and research places she’d one day like to travel.

Find Shona and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Maid of Ice
Blood and Silver #3
Amazon  BN  Kobo  iTunes

Stalkers and death threats . . .
For Finlay Ryder, danger means playing a racecar driver on a daytime soap. That is, until he’s forced to reckon with his true identity as an Albah, a magical ancient race, by one of his own kind. Someone wants him dead. And worse, an ancient vampire is on the prowl, drawing blood left and right. Now, Finlay has no choice but to hunt enemies with unspeakable powers—or risk being hunted himself . . .

. . . and that’s just the first date
Ice skater Alina Nyx is using her broken wrist as an excuse for a career change. And when she falls for handsome Finlay, Albah drama feels like her new full-time job. Learning about magic and vampires is exciting, until her life is threatened. Now, as she begins to uncover her own mysterious powers, she must combine forces with Finlay to eradicate their foes for good, or all Albah will suffer . . . 

Excerpt:

The steering was heavy, which wasn’t a good thing at racetrack speeds. Finley Ryder didn’t know enough about cars to determine what was wrong and keep the race car on the track while it hurtled around the corner at over one hundred miles an hour. He eased off the accelerator and tried to remember all the lessons he’d had before being allowed to drive the car himself.

    Nothing came to mind that would save his life. The steering was getting harder. He wasn’t going to make the next corner and it was coming up way too fast.

    “Car’s not responding.” Finley said into the microphone in his helmet. The microphone wasn’t there for his team to call out tips. It was there for the film crew to give him instructions and for him to spout any lines they needed said.

    “What do you mean?”

    What he meant was he was jelly in under ten seconds. “No steering.”

    He pressed the brake, to slow the car so he didn’t hit the wall as fast. He swore. It wasn’t going to stop in time, that much was clear. “Make sure you get the accident. You might need it for a later episode.”

    When they’d have to kill off his character.

    Finley didn’t like his chances of walking out of this. Panicked voices filled his headset. They were never going to let him do his own stunts again after this, no matter how qualified he was.

His heart beat fast, pumping fear into his body. This was not how he’d planned on dying—he hadn’t made those plans yet. He didn’t give a shit how expensive the gearbox was. He tore his way down through the gears trying to slow the race car. There were sirens, emergency vehicles were already on the track. He didn’t take his eyes off the concrete wall to find out where they were. He knew what they were doing.

    They were coming for him.

    The car slowed, but not enough.

    He drew in a breath to calm the rising panic. This counted as dire situation, and he didn’t care who saw or what questions they asked. He drew the air around him into a shield. He’d tested his magical abilities before, but not like this. He wasn’t sure any Albah had.

    He was making history.

    With an exhale, he pushed every bit of will he had into cushioning himself, and the car, from the impact. If he’d been able to access some skin under all the safety gear, he’d have added blood into the mix.

    His eyes closed as everything collapsed around him.

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New Releases: 11/19-11/25

Tue. Nov. 21st

 Lure of Oblivion (The Mercury Pack #3) by Suzanne Wright
 The Passion of Cleopatra (Ramses the Damned #2) by Anne Rice, Christopher Rice

 Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2) by Sarah Raughley

Happy Reading!!

Early Review: Lure of Oblivion by Suzanne Wright

Lure of Oblivion

Author: Suzanne Wright

Release Date: November 21, 2017

Publisher: Montlake Romance

The Mercury Pack Book #3

ISBN:   1542049725

ISBN13: 9781542049726

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

Gwen Miller may be a human, but she has no problem taking a stand against her own kind. She’s going to testify against the teenage boy she saw viciously assault a lone shifter female—and no amount of pressure from the boy’s wealthy family will make her back down. But when the harassment turns violent, help comes in the form of a lean, toned wolf with winter-gray eyes.

As a guest at Gwen’s inn, shifter enforcer Zander Devlin can’t help but notice that the fierce and leggy brunette is in serious trouble. Since she’s putting herself at risk for one of his kind, keeping her safe is the least he can do. That’s not the only reason Zander wants her close. He desires her, even as the wolf inside him backs away from her. But his feral instincts are hard to keep down, and as they take shape, they’re harder for Gwen to resist. Then again, embracing them could be the only thing that could save her life.

LURE OF OBLIVION was a little different from previous Mercury pack books.

Different how? Well for starters, Gwen is human. Now don't make any mistakes, she might be human, but she's a total bad @ss. I totally loved her and can't wait to see her in future books as she continues to grow with the pack. I can't say that I came into LURE OF OBLIVION knowing anything about Zander. Sure we have seen him in past books, but he didn't stick out to me or draw me in and make me yearn for his story. I didn't finish book three totally loving him—he could be a bit of a jerk and his bedroom talk didn't do it for me—but I liked him.

The relationship between Gwen and Zander was slow, but built nicely. They had nice chemistry and their attraction towards each other jumped off the pages.

The story as a whole was decent. There was plenty of conflict, some life and death action, and the secondary characters added some nice twists to the story. There were a few slow dragging spots and I would have loved for the whole pack to be more involved, but enough of them were there to make it ok.

I haven't met a Suanne Wright book that I didn't like and LURE OF OBLIVION definitely hit the like list. Not her strongest book, but still enjoyable it and look forward to more.

I gave it 3.5/5 Stars

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

Week in Review: 11/12-11/18

Books Received for Review

None this week!

Books I've Read

Fire and Bone by Rachel A. Marks
Princess of Draga by Emma Dean

Reviews Posted

None this week.

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

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

* Monday- Interview + Giveaway for Nimbus by Jacey Bedford

* Wednesday- Guest Blog for Bitter Harvest Series by Ann Gimpel

* Thursday- Guest Blog for The Monster Of Selkirk by C.E. Clayton

* Friday- Promo for Witch of Death by Chrys Fey

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

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

BlogLovin

Networked Blogs

Facebook
Pinterest Board
Amazon

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

Twitter

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

Promo: Witch of Death by Chrys Fey

Witch of Death

Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK / KOBO
$0.99 CENTS!

Murder isn’t always committed with magic unless a witch is involved. 

Detective Reid Sanders doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but when he’s faced with a crime scene that defies the laws of nature, he has no other choice but to start believing. And solving a magical murder involves working with a witch.

Liberty Sawyer embodies the look of your classic evil witch, so, it’s no surprise when she uncovers the murderer is a witch that she becomes Reid’s number one suspect. If she can’t convince him otherwise, more people could lose their lives to dark magic, including her.

Excerpt:

Liberty Sawyer glided swiftly through the horde of police officers, reporters, and on- lookers. Black hair fell from a rigid part in the middle of her scalp to her hips. Her eyes were a soul-stabbing blue and her lips were blood-red. She towered over the other officers on the scene, and wore all black, which set off the pallor of her skin.

Showing her badge to the officer, she slipped under the crime scene tape. A few paces away, she spotted Detective Corbin talking to his new partner, a man she knew by name but hadn’t had the privilege of meeting yet.

“I cannot believe you called her,” the new man was saying when she came up behind them. “We don’t need a damn psychic!”

“Actually, I’m a witch.” She smiled when Reid jolted and turned to face her. “I’m Detective Liberty Sawyer.” She stuck out her hand.

“Detective Reid Sanders,” he grunted back and took her hand.

The feel of his palm against hers sent tingles of lust from the tips of her fingers to her shoulder blade, and she knew he felt it too by the way he jerked his hand back. She winked at him playfully, hoping it would unnerve him even more.

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Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes Series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. She’s an administrator for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, running their newsletter and book club. She’s also an editor for Dancing Lemur Press.

Fey realized she wanted to write by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen.

Fey lives in Florida and is always on the lookout for hurricanes. She has four cats and three nephews, both keep her entertained with their antics.

Find Chrys and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Guest Blog: The Monster Of Selkirk by C.E. Clayton

UFI welcomes Author C.E. Clayton. Thanks for Joining us!!

“Elves? Why elves?”

Greetings, fans of UFI! My name is Chelscey, but I go by my pen name C.E. Clayton as it’s much easier to search for then trying to get the spelling of my name right. I am the author of “The Monster of Selkirk” series, a YA to adult fantasy series, and I am thrilled to be doing a guest blog today! I don’t want to spend too much time talking about myself, but in a nutshell I recently moved from Southern California, where I spent my whole life, to New Orleans with my husband, our three fur-babies, and far too many electronics. I am a big fan of tattoos and dying my hair fun colors when I can (which isn’t often, my hair doesn’t like it all that much). I used to work in the Advertising/Media industry before the move, but now I focus on writing full time.

Speaking of writing, you may be asking yourself: “why, of all the mythical and fantasy creatures there are, why choose to make elves into monsters?” Well, I am so glad you asked!

I am a big fan of video game RPG’s, especially Dungeons and Dragons-esque games. I’ve always liked that, depending on the game publisher, elves were either these lithe, elegant creatures who had a palpable arrogance when it came to the other races. I also love how in other games, elves were considered second class citizens, creatures to be shunned and kicked out of the way if they were in the cities, or avoided due to their hostility out in the wilds. Sure, most people think of the Lord Of The Ring’s elves if they think about the creatures at all, but while I love the world Tolkien made, the elves weren’t the creatures I loved most in his books.

So, when I got the itch to finally pen all the voices in my head and give them life, I decided that this was my chance to bring to life the two opposing forces I found so interesting in elves. Their strength, their beauty, their connection to the forest, their abhorrence for humans and those who abuse the land, their heightened senses that make them a force to be reckoned with despite their small stature, but make them worthy of the scorn others show them. I turned my elves into monsters, leering beasts that fell from grace and now exact their revenge on humans in a terrifying and bloody manner.

I took the things people immediately associated with elves, and flipped it on its head. Thus altering a well-known creature and, hopefully, turning it into something different, new, and exciting. Transforming them into beasts that my readers are familiar with, but are still completely new and surprising. Given this is my first published fantasy series, I wanted to create something that was digestible, but still fantastic and interesting, even without a complicated magic system that has become so expected in this genre.

While taking a monster like a goblin or an orc might have been traditionally more terrifying, more expected, part of the tragedy that are Selkirk’s feral elves, is that they weren’t always beasts that occasionally steal children to snack on. They were beautiful, and relatively peaceful, making their fall all the more gut wrenching because deep down, I want the readers to feel a bit bad for the elves. You should pity them, at least just a little. They are monsters now, certainly, but they weren’t always. Which makes the question as to who, or what, the monster of Selkirk is, all the more fun to discover!

I hope my explanation about the twist I gave the elves in my book piqued your interest enough to pick up “The Monster of Selkirk” series! If you have questions about the elves, or the kind of fantasy creatures you wish were displayed more in the fantasy genre, I’d love to hear from you, as well. Just send me a message on my Facebook page or website. Thanks for letting me take over the blog today, it’s been a pleasure!

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C. E. Clayton was born and raised in Southern California where she worked in the advertising industry for several years on accounts that ranged from fast food, to cars, and video games (her personal favorite). This was before she packed up her life, husband, two displeased cats, and one very confused dog and moved to New Orleans. Now, she is a full time writer (mainly in the fantasy genre), her cats are no longer as displeased, and her dog no longer confused.

More about C.E. Clayton, including her blog, book reviews, and poetry, can be found on her website:

Find C.E. and her books

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Facebook

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The Duality of Nature
The Monster of Selkirk #1
Amazon BN Kobo iTunes Smashwords Goodreads

Monsters come in many forms, and not everyone knows a monster when they see one. After three hundred years of monstrous, feral elves plaguing the island nation of Selkirk, everyone believes they know what a monster is. Humans have learned to live with their savage neighbors, enacting a Clearing every four years to push the elves back from their borders. The system has worked for centuries, until after one such purge, a babe was found in the forest.

As Tallis grows, she discovers she isn’t like everyone else. There is something a little different that makes people leery in her presence, and she only ever makes a handful of friends.

But when the elves gather their forces and emerge from the forests literally hissing Tallis’s name like a battle mantra, making friends is the least of her troubles. Tallis and her companions find themselves on an unwilling journey to not only clear her name, but to stop the elves from ravaging her homeland.

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