Interview: Denise Grover Swank

UFI welcomes Denise Grover Swank Author of Here. Thanks for Joining us!!

Character Interview: Evan

If someone asked your best friend "Who is Evan?" what would they say?

Reece would probably smart off about how privileged I am because of my father and how I could get away with anything yet refuse to take advantage of my situation. But then he’d get serious and say that I’m one of the smartest people knows and that my world revolves around my love for a girl.

What is your favorite part of school?

Science, particularly physics. I take after my father, a world renowned scientist.

What are you true feelings about Julia?

I love her with every part of my being. Without her, my life is pointless.

Why should Julia trust you?

I understand why she has trouble trusting me. But she has to understand that I love her more than I love myself. I would do anything to protect her.

Where do you live?

I live in Springfield, Missouri. But things aren’t always the way they appear.

Is there anything else you can tell us about yourself to help us know you a little better?

I’m not that complicated. I know my place in the world and I know what belongs in it. Loving someone means being willing to risk everything to have a chance with them. The world is made up of tiny, miniscule atoms that combine to make something bigger. Something that couldn’t exist unless they were bound together by some invisible force. Life is a lot like physics when you think about it. When two people are bound by love, nothing can keep them apart.

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Denise is a single mom who lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri raising five of her six kids. (The oldest has gone off to live on his own.) She loves to embarrass her children whether it be spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen or making her teens’ friends think she’s funny/cool. *gasp* (Even if its in her own mind.) On rare occasions, she is known to post stories about her crazy life on her family blog There’s Always Room for One More.

She keeps her sanity by creating worlds to escape to and characters to hang out with.

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Find Denise and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Here
On the Other Side #1
November 11, 2011

Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.

Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.

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Cover Reveal: Finn Finnegan by Darby Karchut

**Available March 12, 2013**

Finn Finnegan

Author: Darby Karchut

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

ISBN: 978-1-937053-32-1 

Release Date: March 12, 2013

Formats: Paper, e-book

Genres: Middle Grade/Young Adult, Fantasy

Finn (not bleedin' Finnegan) MacCullen is eager to begin his apprenticeship. He soon discovers the ups and downs of hunting monsters in a suburban neighborhood under the demanding tutelage of the Knight, Gideon Lir. Both master and apprentice are descendents of the Tuatha De Danaan, a magical race of warriors from Ireland. Scattered long ago to the four corners of the world, the De Danaan wage a two thousand year old clandestine battle with their ancient enemy, the Amandán, a breed of goblin-like creatures.


Now with the beasts concentrating their attacks on Finn, he and his master must race to locate the lost Spear of the Tuatha De Danaan, the only weapon that can destroy the Amandán, all the while hiding his true identity from his new friends, Rafe and Savannah, twins whose South African roots may hold a key to Finn's survival. Armed with a bronze dagger, some ancient Celtic magic, and a hair-trigger temper, Finn is about to show his enemies the true meaning of "fighting Irish."

Guest Post & Giveaway: Katie Reus

UFI welcomes Katie Reus Author of Alpha Instinct. Thanks for Joining us!!

Thank you so much to Stacy for letting me blog here today at Urban Fantasy Investigations!

Today I’m talking about cemeteries and customs! I’ve always had a fascination with old cemeteries, though I don’t know why. In fact, I actually live behind one. I wish I could that’s on purpose, but it’s totally not. My sister thinks it’s a little weird and always asks me if I’ve seen any ghosts. Not yet, but I’m kinda hoping!

Living in the South I’ve never been at a loss for cool cemeteries to visit. They don’t have to be famous, though that’s always fun. The last well known cemetery I visited was at the end of last year. I took a day trip to New Orleans with some friends and got to check out St. Louis cemetery #1 (there are a total of three). If you’ve heard of it, it is much smaller than what you might expect.

It’s not like I celebrate death, but I think it’s interesting to see how people revere and take care of their dead. In some parts of the world the dead are left outside for predators to eat. Some people are given ocean burials, or buried in caves and some are even given coins or beads to pay tolls on their way to the afterlife. Sadly, in some countries women are buried with no headstones or markers, as if they never existed. Customs are interesting, but that’s not a custom, it’s just depressing.

In New Orleans, most graves are in above ground vaults and some are more ornate than others. Supposedly the voodoo queen Marie Laveau was buried in St. Louis Cemetery #1 but according to my husband (and many others) it’s not true. That certainly doesn’t stop people from flocking to see her tomb. All around it there are markings of three XXXs in a row from people hoping she’ll grant them a wish. If you ever make it to New Orleans it’s well worth seeing and almost impossible to get lost in. Even though the cemetery houses close to 100,000 it only covers one square block! That’s a little bit crowded!

In Alpha Instinct, my recent release from NAL/Signet, shifter and vampires were revealed to the world about two decades ago and they have very different customs from humans. Alpha Instinct focuses on a pack of lupine shifters living in North America and when someone dies, they don’t give any speeches or eulogies. The body or bodies are wrapped in a thin shift and burned. Since their DNA is different than humans, they burn much quicker. After they’re gone, their ashes are scattered by their loved ones. To shifters, they came from the earth and that’s the way they return. As I created the Moon Shifter world this was one of the few things I knew without a doubt would be part of the world building.

So what about you? Do you have any pastimes or hobbies like visiting cemeteries? Please share! Two readers who comment today will be randomly selected to win a print copy of Alpha Instinct (US eligible only). Good luck and thanks so much for stopping by!

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I’ve been reading romance since a young age—ever since I discovered my
 mom’s hidden stash. Luckily the addiction stayed with me into adulthood. I write paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense for Carina Press, Harlequin Nocturne, and NAL/Signet
Eclipse.

Find Katie and her books

Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

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Alpha Instinct

Moon Shifter #1
Feb 7, 2012

Fear has a scent. So does desire…

Ana Cordona has been a strong leader for the lupine shifters who survived after all the males and most of the females in her pack were mysteriously poisoned. As tough as she is, with no Alpha male, the pack is vulnerable to the devious shifter Taggart, who wants to claim both their ranch and Ana as his own. When Connor Armstrong comes back into her life, promising protection, it’s almost enough to make Ana forget how he walked out on her before—and reluctantly accept his offer to mate.

The minute Connor sees Ana again, it reawakens a raw hunger. He must have her for his bondmate—his wolf cries out for it. But his human side knows he must proceed with caution because of their complicated past. If he is to truly have her body and soul, he must go beyond his burning desire and win back her heart. Whatever it takes, he is determined not to leave her side again.

But Taggart and his rival pack are not their only enemies. A human element in town is targeting shifters. Their plan not only threatens Ana and Connor’s future, but the lives of the entire pack…

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2 DAY GIVEAWAY

Early Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: Harper Teen
Delirium Book #2
ISBN:  006197806X
ISBN13: 9780061978067
Genre: Young Adult/ Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Publisher

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame. 

PANDEMONIUM continues immediately after the ending of DELIRIUM. Lena is running away from the border after seeing her love Alex killed. She is half dead herself before she is found by a group of Invalids in the wild.

The first quarter of the book was a bit depressing as Lena mourns and lets herself sorta waste away. She finally kicks herself into gear and gets back to her strong self. She of course is strongly against the cure and is now fighting on the side of the Invalids. The story flowed well. It jumps back and forth between Lena's time in the wild in the past and the present day events she is currently going through. I liked all the explanations of the wild and how everything worked around "camp". I enjoyed most of the new characters. The newest love interest kinda annoyed me. I know that Lena needs to move on with her life but I had a hard time seeing the romantic connection between her and Julian. They went through some tough things together but they didn't click with me. If she had to have a new love interest at all I would have liked to see her with someone from the wild. That is the only thing I didn't like about the story.

I sorta saw the ending coming but still enjoyed it all the same, it will definitely shake things up. Everything was just going too good for something major not to happen. It is a bit of a cliffhanger though so be prepared to be left with your mouth open and mind racing. REQUIEM will be out in 2013.

I gave it 4/5 stars 

Winner: Unbroken by Rachel Caine

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize: Print copy of Unbroken

The Winner chosen by Rafflecopter is.....

New Releases: 2/12-2/18

Tues Feb 14

Arcadia Awakens (Arkadien, #1)by Kai Meyer

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

The Nightmare Garden (Iron Codex, #2) by Caitlin Kittredge

Happy Reading!!!

Early Review: Partials by Dan Wells

Partials
Author:Dan Wells
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: Harper Teen
Partials Book #1
ISBN:   0062071041
ISBN13: 9780062071040
Genre: Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Publisher

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulse-pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

The virus that killed off  most of the human race has kept the population at a stand still since the babies that are born die within days due to the virus that is in the air. Kira is working in the hospital helping with research to keep the babies that day within days alive. Kira refuses to watch another baby die and begins the journey to find a cure which leads to some secrets she never would have guessed would be revealed.

Kira was easy to like. She was strong and brave when most people would have listened to their friends and given up. I loved Samm, I enjoyed watching Kara getting to know what a Partial really is instead of what the humans at the top told her they were. The other characters were enjoyable. Wells did a good job with giving back story on the virus and events that lead to the world that the humans now live in. I cant really say more about the story without giving away spoilers but I can say the twist towards the end was fantastic and I really did not see it coming.

Ive been on a huge Dystopian kick lately and I'm so glad I got a chance to read PARTIALS early. The only downside to that is that I have to wait even long for book 2 to come out. PARTIALS had a fantastic world, built around an interesting and unique story with great characters. Kira's story continues in FAILSAFE planned to release in 2013.

I gave it 4/5 stars