Review: Fireblood by Elly Blake

Fireblood

Author: Elly Blake

Release Date: September 12, 2017

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Frostblood Saga Book #2

ISBN:  9780316273329

ISBN13: 9780316273329

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review Copy Source:  NetGalley

All hail the Fire Queen.

Against all odds, Ruby has defeated the villainous Frost King and melted his throne of ice. But the bloodthirsty Minax that was trapped inside is now haunting her kingdom and everyone she loves. The answers to its demise may lie to the south in Sudesia, the land of the Firebloods, and a country that holds the secrets to Ruby’s powers and past…

Despite warnings from her beloved Arcus, Ruby accompanies a roguish Fireblood named Kai to Sudesia, where she must master her control of fire in a series of trials to gain the trust of the suspicious Fire Queen. Only then can she hope to access the knowledge that could defeat the rampaging Minax—which grows closer every moment. But as sparks fly in her moments alone with Kai, Ruby no longer knows whom to trust. The fates of two kingdoms are now in her hands.

I wasn't exactly anticipating the release of FIRE BLOOD. In fact, I delayed reading FIREBLOOD because I was scared at the thought of a love triangle, but FIREBLOOD ended up surprising me.

There were some great reveals in FIREBLOOD. I didn't like the fact that Ruby was going off on her own with a stranger to a different land, but it ended up being ok and I really enjoyed learning about everything that was thrown out in the story. Ruby grew and learned a lot about herself in FIREBLOOD. Through every twist, she plowed ahead and got done what needed to be done.

Let's talk romance. I don't want to ruin anything, but I will say that Ruby knows exactly who and what she wants, and the wait to find out wasn't excruciating.

I will definitely read more from the Fireblood Saga. I have enjoyed the characters and the world and need to know what will happen next.

I gave it 4/5 stars

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

Review: Sleep Like a Baby by Charlaine Harris

Sleep Like a Baby

Author: Charlaine Harris

Release Date: September 26, 2017

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Aurora Teagarden Book #10

ISBN:   1250090067

ISBN13: 9781250090065

Genre: Mystery

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

Charlaine Harris returns to her Aurora Teagarden mystery series with a fabulous new book featuring the small-town Southern librarian.

In the latest installment of the Aurora Teagarden series, Robin and Aurora have finally begun their adventure in parenting. With newborn Sophie proving to be quite a handful, Roe’s mother pays for a partially trained nurse, Virginia Mitchell, to come help the new parents for a few weeks. Virginia proves to be especially helpful when Robin has to leave town for work and Roe is struck with a bad case of the flu.

One particularly stormy night, Roe wakes to hear her daughter crying and Virginia nowhere to be found. Roe's brother Philip helps her search the house and they happen upon a body outside… but it isn’t Virginia’s. Now, not only does she have a newborn to care for and a vulnerable new marriage to nurture, Roe also has to contend with a new puzzle -- who is this mystery woman dead in their backyard, and what happened to Virginia?

SLEEP LIKE A BABY just didn't do much for me. I don't know what happened, but if this is the new Aurora Teagarden, I won't be reading much more.

There was a mystery in SLEEP LIKE A BABY, but my goodness was it boring getting to the answers. We get more information on how Aurora feeds, changes and takes care of her baby than solving any mystery that was supposed to be included in the story. I get it, she's a new mom, but if I wanted to read about the care and feeding of a baby, I would have picked up a parenting book.

There really isn't much more I could possibly say about SLEEP LIKE A BABY, because not much happened between the front and back cover. Yeah, I was disappointed too. 

I gave it 2/5 stars

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

New Releases: 10/29-11/4

Tue. Oct. 31st

 Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
 Cold Spectrum (Harmony Black #4) by Craig Schaefer
 The Empress (The Diabolic #2) by S.J. Kincaid
 Hard Breaker (Gargoyles #6) by Christine Warren
 Malice of Crows (The Shadow #3) by Lila Bowen 
 The Sea King (Weathermages of Mystral #2) by C.L. Wilson
 Siege Line (Shadow Ops  #6) by Myke Cole 
 The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson #12) by Darynda Jones
 Witchful Thinking (The Happily Everlasting Series #4) by Kristen Painter
 Wolves and Roses (Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #1) by Christina Bauer

Happy Reading!

Early Review: The Trouble with Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave

Author: Darynda Jones

Release Date: October 31, 2017

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Charley Davidson Book #12

ISBN:  1250147557

ISBN13: 9781250147554

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Publisher

Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series.

Ever since Reyes escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley accidently trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that’s not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings—some corporeal, some not so much—as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she’s not uncovering a murder. This time she’s covering one up.

Add to that her new occupation of keeping a startup PI venture—the indomitable mystery-solving team of Amber Kowalski and Quentin Rutherford—out of trouble and dealing with the Vatican’s inquiries into her beloved daughter, and Charley is on the brink of throwing in the towel and becoming a professional shopper. Or possibly a live mannequin. But when someone starts attacking humans who are sensitive to the supernatural world, Charley knows it’s time to let loose her razor sharp claws. Then again, her number one suspect is the dark entity she’s loved for centuries. So the question becomes, can she tame the unruly beast before it destroys everything she’s worked so hard to protect?

Now you see him, now you don't. I love that things aren't always as bad as they seem to be at the end of the previous book, but man, waiting to find out is always a killer.

Charley continues to amaze me. I know that this is a story, but when I'm reading, it really does feel like real life and I can't fathom how Charley continues to do all she does. Well maybe I do, a lot of coffee and humor might have something to do with it.

There was quite a bit of things in THE TROUBLE WITH TWELFTH GRAVE that surprised me. We get answers to things we didn't even know we didn't have the answers to. People we didn't expect to see show up in unexpected places. Characters we didn't think could get any more awesome, get even more awesome. You would think after 12 books that not much else could surprise me—good and bad—, but Darynda Jones continues to pull out all the stops when it comes to her characters, their world and the storyline I can't seem to get enough of.  

I have a lot of feelings about a lot of things in the twelfth installment of the Charley Davidson series, but I don't want to give anything away, it would totally kill your reading experience.

The end is upon us. How will things end for the Charley Davidson series? I am both excited and sad to find out. 

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: 10/22-10/28

Books Received for Review

Rise of a Phoenix by Shannon Mayer
The Last Wolf by Maria Vale

Books I've Read

Forever Wilde by Jenn Stark
Wilde Child by Jenn Stark
Call of the Wilde by Jenn Stark

Reviews Posted


The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano
The White Lily by Juliette Cross
 
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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday- Cover Reveal for StoneKing by Donna Migliaccio

* Thursday- Promo + Giveaway for The White Lily by Juliette Cross

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

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Review: The White Lily by Juliette Cross

The White Lily

Author: Juliette Cross

Release Date: October 23, 2017

Publisher: Entangled Publishing: Amara

Vampire Blood Book #3

ISBN13: 9781640631984

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review Copy Source: NetGaley

To the north of the Varis empire, a mysterious faction spreads propaganda against the vampire monarchy. Friedrich Volya, the Duke of Winter Hill, seeks to discover who they are before his uncle finds them first. King Dominik will punish the traitors with brutal force.

Local schoolteacher, the raven-haired Brennalyn, is on her own mission—to spy on the duke and discover what she can for the Black Lily. She longs to help the commonwealth and bring justice to the many orphans left behind from the ravages of the blood madness, like the children she lovingly keeps in her care. What she doesn’t plan for is the heart-pounding attraction she feels for the duke, enemy to the Black Lily.

But when Brennalyn’s secret puts her life and the life of her children in danger, Friedrich steps in as her protector, she finds out there’s more to the duke than she thought.

I was a little hesitant to pick up THE WHITE LILY after THE RED LILY. Book two just didn't draw me in like THE BLACK LILY did and I was nervous that book three would be the same way. Thankfully THE WHITE LILY left me wanting more.

I very much enjoyed Brennalyn from the start. I loved her independence, her fortitude, her heart, her spirit and her loyalty. Her children were just as likable and they fit so well into the story. Friedrich wasn't an instant like for me. I didn't dislike him, just didn't instantly stick out as likable. We did meet him in THE RED LILY and for some reason I pictured him as someone completely different than what he ended up being. He grew on me pretty fast and was definitely worthy of Brenna and her children.

The romance was fun. No matter how hard feelings were denied, the attraction and draw to each other continued to show strong between Brenna and Friedrich. Everything happened at a slow burn and that is how I prefer it. Even though the romance was the focal point of the story, the plot still continued the overall Vampire Blood mission. 

The ending of THE WHITE LILY was great. I love that all the characters are together again and I hope we get some good stories out of them in the next book before they separate.

I gave it 4/5 stars

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

Promo + Giveaway: The White Lily by Juliette Cross

The White Lily
Vampire Blood #3

To the north of the Varis empire, a mysterious faction spreads propaganda against the vampire monarchy. Friedrich Volya, the Duke of Winter Hill, seeks to discover who they are before his uncle finds them first. King Dominik will punish the traitors with brutal force.

Local schoolteacher, the raven-haired Brennalyn, is on her own mission—to spy on the duke and discover what she can for the Black Lily. She longs to help the commonwealth and bring justice to the many orphans left behind from the ravages of the blood madness, like the children she lovingly keeps in her care. What she doesn’t plan for is the heart-pounding attraction she feels for the duke, enemy to the Black Lily.

But when Brennalyn’s secret puts her life and the life of her children in danger, Friedrich steps in as her protector, she finds out there’s more to the duke than she thought.

Book 2, THE RED LILY, will be on sale for .99 from 10/30 - 11/5

Long Excerpt:

On the next turn, he pulled her close, till her breasts brushed his chest. The friction, as brief as it was, rasped her nipples. She gasped then quickly clamped her mouth shut, trying to put some distance between them. But he was in full control, his large frame engulfing her, his intimidating presence swallowing her with each turn.

“Your dress is quite beautiful on you.” He ignored her question entirely. “So much more appealing than your gray frocks.”

“What is wrong with my frocks?”

“They’re hideous.”

She gasped. “My frocks are entirely suitable to a woman of my role in society.”

“And what role is that? An old crone?” She caught his mischievous smile. He was goading her. And it was working.

“An unmarried woman. The town’s schoolteacher.”

He scoffed, slowing their waltz. “You think yourself a spinster at three and twenty? I think not. I’m going to burn every one of them when I get the chance.”

“Your Grace. You will do no such thing. You have no right to destroy any of my possessions.”

He grinned and slowed their forward movement to a stop, drawing her even closer. She tried to step from his embrace, but he held her good.

“Your Grace?”

“I’m not quite sure you know what’s happening between us, Miss Snow. But let me be clear. Those hideous rags are not worthy of your luscious body. Not worthy of you. You may try to hide your beauty behind drab colors and formless frocks and tight buns. But I see what’s beneath. And I want—no, I will have you in all your glory. Therefore, prepare yourself to be draped in silk quite soon.”

She saw the lion in the man, gazing down at her with steadfast calm and confidence. All of which was breathtaking and alluring. She spent the majority of her life trying to order and control her surroundings, only to find her world tilted at every turn. She wondered how the duke would feel to lose his control.

“It must be very difficult,” she said.

“What must be difficult?” He swept her away from clumsy Mr. Powell, who nearly barreled into them with his dance partner.

“Believing that you own everyone you meet.”

“You wound me. I don’t believe that at all.”

“Really? You just stated as if it were a decree that I’d be draped in silk. What if I don’t like silk?”

His smoldering smile made her knees buckle. “Come now, Miss Snow.” He leaned close to her ear, his lip brushing the shell as he whispered on the turn, “If not a silk dress, how about silk sheets?”

She laughed, his naughty teasing bringing a heated flush to her face. “You’re most improper for a royal duke.”

“Thank you,” he said with a smirk. “I do my best.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“It most certainly was.”

She narrowed her gaze. “Well, whatever you may believe, I’d like to clarify that you do not own me, Your Grace.”

“I don’t want to own you, kitten. I want to possess you.”

“There is no difference.”

“Indeed. There is.”

Eyes darkening and hooded in shadow, she caught them drifting over her face before they landed on her mouth. His own parted slightly.

“Your Grace,” she warned, “if you are making plans to kiss me on the dance floor, let me tell you that it will not be welcome.”

“All right. Will it be welcome in my carriage on the way home?”

She arched her brow. “Are you always so forward with ladies you’re trying to woo?”

“No. Indeed not. I’m usually much more charming, but you seem to bring out the beast in me, Miss Snow. I’d rather skip all the games and get straight to the prize.”

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Juliette is a multi-published author of paranormal and fantasy romance and lives in lush, moss-laden Louisiana where she lives with her husband, four kids, and black lab, Kona. She loves reading and writing brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and dark, sexy heroes.

From the moment she read JANE EYRE as a teenager, she fell in love with the Gothic romance. Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own.

Find Juliette and her books

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