Promo + Giveaway: Drakon’s Plunder by N.J. Walters

Drakon’s Plunder
 Blood of the Drakon #3
Amazon US  Paperback  Amazon UK  Amazon CA  Amazon AU  B&N Kobo  iTunes

Life is not going well for archaeologist Sam Bellamy. She's stuck in the middle of the ocean on a salvage boat with people who want her dead. It wasn't her gift for being able to sense objects of power that got her here, rather her need to make a secret society called the Knights of the Dragon pay for killing her mentor. Sam doesn't believe in dragons, but the Knights do, and if she can get one of the sacred artifacts they're searching for away from them, she'll consider it payback.

Ezra Easton is content to run his marine salvage company and live alone on his private island. He may be a four-thousand-year-old water drakon, but he's civilized enough to know just because he pulls an injured woman from the ocean, doesn't mean he gets to keep her...

When she wakes up, she has a few tall tales to share, and it seems the Knights are after her. But this drakon won't give up his treasure.

Excerpt #1:

“You have no idea who is looking for me.” She shoved the blanket aside and sat up. It was time to get dressed, if she still had any clothes, and get out of here. “These people are dangerous and will stop at nothing to find me. If they don’t find a body at the wreck—” She broke off before she said too much.

“So you were in a wreck. I wondered why you were alone in the dinghy. And who is after you?” He stood, looming like a large, avenging angel over her. “You can trust me to protect you.”

“You might be willing to risk yourself, but I’m not. I need to leave. Where are my clothes?”

As though she hadn’t spoken, Ezra continued. “You must be thirsty. Hungry, too. I’m starving. How about I make some bacon and eggs? Maybe some pancakes and toast.” He left her standing there and padded barefoot into the kitchen. Why did she find it so sexy that he was barefoot?

She was obviously not thinking straight, otherwise she wouldn’t notice the way his long hair brushed his shoulders or the way the soft denim cupped his behind as he walked away. Her toes curled against the rug.

She snatched up the throw blanket, wrapped it around her, and hurried after him. “Didn’t you hear anything I just told you? It’s not safe for you if I’m here. The people looking for me will kill you.”

Ezra pulled a carton of eggs, butter, and a package of bacon out of the refrigerator and set them on the counter. He added a box of pancake mix and a bowl to his collection before getting several large skillets out of the cupboard.

“Did you hear me?” she demanded. “They’ll kill you.”

Ezra propped his hands on his hips and faced her. “Not if I kill them first.”

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N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Find N.J. Walters and her books

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Street Team | Pinterest | Goodreads | Newsletter | Amazon Author Profile

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Week in Review: 6/25-7/1

Books Received for Review

The Hunt by Chloe Neill
Fireblood by Elly Blake

Books I've Read

Shag Lake by Susan McEachern
Blood Gamble by Melissa F. Olson
The Hunt by Chloe Neill

Reviews Posted


Ravenheart by Dannika Dark
The Broken Ones by Danielle L. Jensen

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

* Monday- Promo + Giveaway for The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Sting by Deborah Wilde

* Thursday- Interview + Giveaway for The Thirteenth Gate by Kat Ross

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

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

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

Review: The Broken Ones by Danielle L. Jensen

The Broken Ones

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Release Date: June 6th, 2017

Publisher: Angry Robot

Th Malediction Trilogy Book #0.6

ISBN:   0857666975

ISBN13:  9780857666970

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

A prequel to the USA Today bestseller and Goodreads Choice finalist Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy).

Below Forsaken Mountain, a plot is being hatched to overthrow the tyrant king of Trollus, and Marc is the right-hand man of its leader. His involvement is information more than one troll would kill to possess, which is why he must keep it a secret from everyone, even the girl he loves.

After accidentally ruining her sister’s chance to become queen, Pénélope is given one last opportunity by her father, the Duke d’Angoulême, to make herself useful: she must find proof that the boy she’s in love with is conspiring against the crown. If she fails, her life will be forfeit.

Marc and Pénélope must navigate the complex politics of Trollus, where powers on all sides are intent on using them as pawns, forcing them to risk everything for a chance at a life together.

Except being together may turn out to be the greatest risk of all.

I had not heard of this series before seeing it on NetGalley so the world is completely new to me. I very much enjoyed reading THE BROKEN ONES and learning about the world that the Malediction Trilogy is set in but, according to the author, it should be read after book two. I'm not sure what I missed out on not having two previous stories under my belt.

THE BROKEN ONES was both interesting and heartbreaking. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the love story definitely pulled at my heartstrings.  Penelope and Marc were both easy to like and the supporting cast of characters brought more to the storyline. 

The ending of THE BROKEN ONES was shocking. So shocking that it definitely made me interested to see how things turn out in the future for a few of the characters. Book One, Stolen Song, is on my to-be-read list.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

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

Interview + Giveaway: The Thirteenth Gate by Kat Ross

UFI welcomes Author Kat Ross. 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?

I love to travel! I’ve been scuba-diving in Egypt, used book shopping in Havana, and roamed around in the labyrinth beneath Buda Castle in Hungary. Next week, I’ll be swimming with wild pigs in the Bahamas.

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

For exercise, yoga and running. For fun, movies, books and chocolate!

What is your favorite part of writing?

I like plotting the best. It somehow seems to flow easier than the nuts and bolts of writing a scene.

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

The only one is that I need to get out of my house. Sitting at my own desk leads to procrastination. So I head out to the library or a coffee shop.

What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?

I just read Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch and loved it, so I plan to read the whole series. It’s set in an alt London where the Metropolitan Police have a special unit to deal with the paranormal, and it’s very witty. Other favorites are The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan and No Hero by Jonathan Woods.

How would you pitch The Thirteenth Gate to someone who has not heard of it before?

Sherlock Holmes meets The X-Files with a dash of The Alienist.

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that The Thirteenth Gate is set in?

It opens in London 1888, just after Jack the Ripper has ended his murder spree and disappeared. The main characters are basically demon hunters. The world of the dead is called the Dominion and there are all sorts of nasty creatures coming through.

Do you have a favorite scene in The Thirteenth Gate?

I do especially like the part where Alec Lawrence faces down the Ripper atop a church spire in Oxford.

Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?

I’ve always had a soft spot for the necromancer Balthazar because he embodies both good and evil. His scenes are some of my favorites. The arch-villainess Queen Neblis was tougher, because she needed to both really scary and understandable. I think the most memorable bad guys are usually a bit sympathetic.

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

Right now I’m working on a continuation of the Fourth Element series. The first book is called Nocturne and it’s set in a world that’s tidally locked to its star, so one side is always in darkness and other in sunlight. And the bright side is actually much more dangerous.

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Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She's the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day, the Fourth Element fantasy series (The Midnight Sea, Blood of the Prophet, Queen of Chaos), and the new Dominion Mysteries. She loves myths, monsters and doomsday scenarios.

Find Kat and her books

Kat Ross / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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The Thirteenth Gate
Dominion Mysteries  #2
Amazon

Winter 1888. At a private asylum in the English countryside, a man suspected of being Jack the Ripper kills an orderly and flees into the rain-soaked night. His distraught keepers summon the Lady Vivienne Cumberland—who's interviewed their patient and isn't sure he's a man at all. An enigmatic woman who guards her own secrets closely, Lady Vivienne knows a creature from the underworld when she sees one. And he’s the most dangerous she's ever encountered.

As Jack rampages through London, this time targeting rare book collectors, Lady Vivienne begins to suspect what he's looking for. And if he finds it, the doors to purgatory will be thrown wide open…

Across the Atlantic, an archaeologist is brutally murdered after a Christmas Eve gala at the American Museum of Natural History. Certain peculiar aspects of the crime attract the interest of the Society for Psychical Research and its newest investigator, Harrison Fearing Pell. Is Dr. Julius Sabelline's death related to his recent dig in Alexandria? Or is the motive something darker?

As Harry uncovers troubling connections to a serial murder case she’d believed was definitively solved, two mysteries converge amid the grit and glamor of Gilded Age New York. Harry and Lady Vivienne must join forces to stop an ancient evil. The key is something called the Thirteenth Gate. But where is it? And more importantly, who will find it first

Excerpt:

The Greymoor Lunatic Asylum made a grim impression even in daylight. It crouched at the end of a long, treeless drive, barred windows gleaming beneath a peaked slate roof. After her first interview with Dr. William Clarence, Lady Vivienne Cumberland had taken a hard look at those bars. She’d strongly suggested to the asylum superintendent that he move Dr. Clarence to a room with no window at all.

That had been just over a month ago. Now, in the darkest hour of the night, with rain coursing down the brick façade and thunder rattling the turrets, Greymoor looked like something torn from the pages of a penny dreadful, hulking and shadowed despite the lamps burning in every window. At the wrought-iron front gate, a black brougham drew to a halt. Following a brief exchange with the occupants, two officers from the Essex constabulary waved it through, immediately ducking back into the shelter of a police wagon.

“I told them to watch him,” Lady Cumberland muttered, yanking her gloves on. “To keep him isolated from the staff and other patients. Clearly, they didn’t listen. The fools.”

Alec Lawrence gripped the cane resting across his knees. He had been present at the interview, had looked into Dr. Clarence’s eyes, a blue so pale they reminded him of a Siberian dog. The memory unsettled him still, and he wasn’t a man who was easily shaken.

“We don’t know what happened yet,” he pointed out. “Superintendent Barrett can hardly be faulted considering we withheld certain information. I rather doubt he would have believed us anyway.”

Vivienne scowled. “You may be right, but it was only a matter of time. I’ve known that since the day Clarence was brought here. The S.P.R. made a very bad mistake entrusting him to Greymoor.”

“We still don’t know for sure—”

“Yes, we do. The killings stopped, didn’t they?”

“That could be for any number of reasons,” he said stubbornly.

“Including that the creature who committed them is behind bars. Or was, at least.”

Alec Lawrence buttoned his woolen greatcoat. This was not a new debate. “Perhaps. But there’s not a scrap of hard evidence against him. Nothing but a single reference in a report by some American girl and Clarence’s own odd demeanor. Had there been more, he would have been locked up tight in Newgate Prison.”

Vivienne turned her obsidian gaze on him. With her high cheekbones and full lips, she might have been thirty, or a decade in either direction. Only Alec and a handful of others knew better.

“That American girl is Arthur Conan Doyle’s goddaughter and she seemed quite clever to me. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” she added quietly. “Walls don’t hold Dr. Clarence’s sort for long.”

“Look,” he said, softening. “For what it’s worth, I think we did the right thing taking him off the streets. I just....” He trailed off, unsure how he meant to finish the thought.

“You don’t trust my judgment anymore. Since Harper Dods.”

“That’s not even remotely true. I simply think we need to keep open minds on the matter. The signs aren’t there, Vivienne. I’m the first to admit Dr. Clarence is an odd duck, perhaps worse. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t human.”

Vivienne arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “And yet here we are, summoned by Sidgwick in the middle of the night. I wonder if he’s regretting his decision?”

The note from Henry Sidgwick, president of the Society for Psychical Research, had arrived in the form of a small, bedraggled messenger boy pounding on Lady Vivienne’s front door in St. James an hour before. It was both vague and ominous, citing an “unfortunate incident” involving Dr. Clarence and urging all due haste to the asylum.

“I suppose we’ll find out in a minute,” Alec said, turning his collar up. He swiped a hand through chestnut hair and jammed a top hat on his head. “Off to the races.”

A gust of rain shook the carriage as it slowed at the front entrance. A six-story tower capped by a Roman clock and white spire anchored two wings extending on either side. Unlike most asylums, which had separate annexes for men and women, Greymoor’s residents were all male. The north wing housed those poor souls suffering from garden-variety disorders like dementia and melancholia. The other was reserved for the so-called “incurables,” a euphemism for the criminally insane. Violent, unpredictable men deemed unfit for prison.

Despite his doubts, Alec Lawrence would have happily had the lot of them over for tea rather than spend five minutes in the company of Dr. William Clarence. In his heart, he wondered if Vivienne’s instincts were correct. But he wanted her to be wrong because the alternative was far worse.

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Review: Ravenheart by Dannika Dark

Ravenheart

Author: Dannika Dark

Release Date: May 7, 2017

Publisher: Self-Published

Crossbreed Book #2

ASIN:   B072BKVKWD

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

“WE ALL HAVE SECRETS, RAVEN. DARK ONES. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US.”

Two weeks after joining Keystone, Raven Black is ready to take on the world as a criminal hunter for hire. If only her partner wasn’t a bloodsucking Vampire with a penchant for getting under her skin. Despite her lavish surroundings, Raven misses the freedom of life without rules. And Keystone’s next assignment is about to test her self-control in more ways than one.

Dead bodies are popping up in the human district, and all signs point to a Breed serial killer. In order to catch him, Raven and Christian embark on a mission that takes their partnership into uncharted waters. Lives are at stake. Can Raven trust her instincts, or will she fall into a web spun from lies and deceit?

Time is running out in this pulse-pounding tale of dark secrets, murder, and forbidden desires.

The one thing that really stuck out for me in RAVENHEART was the character development. We get to learn more about the pasts of those involved in Keystone. Not a ton, but it was enough to help me get to know the characters better. I still enjoyed Raven as a character, but I didn't find her to be as tough and kick butt as she was in RAVENHEART. She was also missing the confidence I saw in KEYSTONE.

There was a small side romance between Raven and a character not involved in Keystone. It was a bit awkward and I wasn't crazy about it, but that's probably because I still have my fingers strongly crossed for something to happen between Raven and Christian. There is so much chemistry and tension between them that it just needs to happen already.  

The storyline wasn't as strong as KEYSTONE was. The bad guy wasn't immediately clear to me, but it didn't take long and there wasn't as much mystery involved when it became obvious and the excitement level went down for me.

Although RAVENHEART wasn't a direct hit for me, I still want to know more about the characters and world enough to add book three, DEATHTRAP, to my wishlist. Fingers crossed I like it as much as book one.

I gave it 3/5 stars

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

New Releases: 6/25-7/1

Tue. June 27th

 Generation One (Lorien Legacies Reborn #1) by Pittacus Lore
 The Mech Who Loved Me (London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy #2) by Bec McMaster
 Midnight Jewel (The Glittering Court #2) by Richelle Mead
 Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga #2) by Kiersten White
 The Queen of Swords (Golgotha #3) by R.S. Belcher
 Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
 The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2) by Jeaniene Frost
 The Waking Land by Callie Bates

Happy Reading!

Promo + Giveaway: The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Sting by Deborah Wilde

The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Sting
Nava Katz #2
Amazon

50% boobs. 50% sarcasm. 100% new breed of hunter.

After a bumpy start as the only female demon hunter in the top secret Brotherhood of David, Nava Katz heads to Prague for her first undercover mission: unmasking a demon movie star. She’d be all kinds of thrilled if it weren’t for the fact that her fellow hunter-with-benefits, Rohan Mitra, has reclaimed his rock star status and assigned Nava the role of groupie.

Rejecting her “be a good girl and follow orders” directive, Nava unleashes an alter ego guaranteed to hook their celebrity target and drive Rohan crazy. No downside–until she finds herself up against Rohan’s past, the Brotherhood’s antiquated thinking, and her own identity issues, turning her personal life into the bomb that could blow up the entire operation.

Sparkly and deadly; it’s a plan.

Be Sure to Check Out The Unlikeable Demon Hunter #1

On Sale Today for .99

Excerpt #2:

Rohan’s arm shot out to the wall, blocking me. The two of us faced in different directions. How apt.

“Move,” I said

He didn’t budge.

I stared resolutely ahead.

Finally he dropped his arm.

I pulled my keycard from my coat, walking directly to my room. No passing go. No collecting $200.

“Don’t leave.” He spoke quietly but in the silence of the corridor, I had no trouble hearing him.

My hands balled up. Hadn’t it been enough for one night? That thread between us that had felt so comforting earlier threatened to strangle me now. Anger fueled my turn. I would have welcomed a corresponding anger in him, but the naked longing on his face and the defeat in the slope of his shoulders undid me. That and his sincere, “I love watching you dance.”

The hallway was empty but it suddenly felt hard to breathe.

He held out a hand.

I leaned back. The magnetic push/pull between us demanded a certain distance, a certain resistance, as much as attraction. Wrung out on every level, I couldn’t afford to let Mr. Force-of-Nature Mitra take advantage of my weakened boundaries to redefine our hook-ups into whatever vision he had of them.

The air conditioning kicked in and I wrapped my arms around myself.

“When you see my shower, you’ll thank me.” He scrunched up his face, a lock of hair falling boyishly over his eyes. “Nothing happens. Just sleep.”

I wasn’t sure if that sweetened the offer or not, but I nodded.

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A global wanderer, hopeless romantic, and total cynic with a broken edit button, Deborah writes urban fantasy to satisfy her love of smexy romances and tales of chicks who kick ass. She is all about the happily-ever-after, with a huge dose of hilarity along the way. “It takes a bad girl to fight evil. Go Wilde.”


Find Deborah and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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