Spider's Bite
(Elemental Assassin, #1)
By: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: Jan 26, 2010
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
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“My name is Gin, and I kill people.”
My
name is Gin Blanco. They call me the Spider—the most feared assassin in
the South (and a part-time cook at the Pork Pit BBQ joint.) As a Stone
elemental, I can hear the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet and
feel the vibrations of the soaring mountains above me, though I don’t
use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it
professional pride.
After a ruthless Air elemental double-crossed
me and killed my handler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exterminate
anyone who gets in my way. I may look hot in a miniskirt, but I’m still
one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trouble when irresistibly
rugged Detective Donovan Caine agrees to help. The last thing a
coldhearted killer needs when she’s battling a magic more powerful than
her own is a sexy distraction... especially when he wants her dead just
as much as the enemy.
My thoughts...
This is a really good urban
fantasy. I will admit that I didn't fully get into it until about 25% in
and I think that was due to the fact that Gin still hadn't teamed up
with Donovan yet. However, regardless I was still entertained.
I
think what I enjoyed most about this was Gin. She's an assassin and at
no point in the story did you forget it. Yeah she has her carefree
moments but the second that she senses danger her... God help me...
Spidey Senses kick in. She's always assessing the situation and is
always calculation possible outcomes. My favorite part of the book is
the fact that the author doesn't skip over the assignments and all of
Gin's jobs. There is a lot of killing in this book with detail. Since
Gin's weapon of choice are knives, there's a lot of knife throwing and
slitting of throats. Like I said, at no point do you forget that she's
an assassin.
This is definitely a series that I will be keeping
up with. I really hope that in the upcoming books, Donovan plays a
larger roll. Maybe it could've had something to do with the fact that
after the descirption of Donovan, I immediately thought of Daniel
Sunjata.
Favorite quote...
"No
matter how bad people were, no matter what evil they committed, or who
they fucked over, nobody ever really believed death was coming for them,
courtesy of an assassin like me. Until it was too late." -Gin
The Cat's Meow
(Witches Brew, #1)
By: Stacey Kennedy
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Published: Dec. 13, 2012
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Libby is an
Enchantress—a witch gifted by the Goddess to conjure spells. When a
magical presence is detected around a recent string of feline slayings,
Libby takes the case to uncover the reasons behind the odd deaths. Much
to her displeasure, the coven also sends a sexy warlock, Kale, to assist
her.
While having the muscle around proves to be useful,
fighting the attraction between them is worse than a hex, especially
considering Kale is keeping secrets. But soon, Libby has bigger problems
than the elusive warlock when her spells turn up clues that point to
something far more sinister than slaughtered cats.
Now Libby has
landed herself in the midst of an uprising. She trusts no one and isn’t
safe—not from the warlocks stirring up trouble. Not from the worrisome
rebellion she can’t escape. And certainly not from Kale, who is weaving a
very dangerous spell over her heart.
How it starts...
"I
scrunched my nose as my spaghetti dinner threatened to make an
appearance at the sight of the slaughtered black cat on the forest
floor."
My thoughts...
I can't say that I've read many books containing witches
and warlocks. Not that I don't like them but I rarely find one that
interests me enough to read it. I fell in love with the cover and after
reading the synopsis, decided to give it a try.
I liked the
world of magic that the author created even though I did feel like there
should've been more magic in the story. For a while there, I was
wondering if I was going to see anything cool and it wasn't until the
end of the book, at the big climatic point, that I got to see anything
overly interesting. Not that the story wasn't good but I kept forgetting
that I was reading a book about witches. Kale comes in the picture at
the beginning and is supposed to be this warlock who has this awesome
power, only he can't tap into it just yet. So for the majority of the
book, he's just muscle and intimidation. However when the fight scene
came, I was wrapped in the story.
It's not that the characters
weren't interesting but I just didn't find myself really caring for
them. Libby is very smart mouthed, and not in a "haha she's so witty"
kind of way. Kale is extremely secretive the entire time. So I think
with those two things mixed in, I didn't find myself really grabbing at
the story. I personally think that the
author was trying to set up the world for the readers and wound up letting the story take the backseat . Once everything was laid out on the table towards the end, I
started to really enjoy the story, which really redeemed the book for
me. At first, I wasn't overly sure if I'd continue with the story but
now I'm interested in what happens next with Libby and Kale.
Favorite part...
If
you haven't guessed it already, my favorite part is the fight scene.
Kale throws up a protective bubble around Libby when the crap hits the
fan. And for me that was an extremely sweet gesture considering his
power play are runes, which he needs time and concentration to draw and
the first thing he does is protect Libby. I also like this scene because
we finally get to see not only what Kale is made of but Libby kicks
some major butt as well.
Cry Wolf
(Alpha & Omega, #1)
By: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Published: July 29, 2008
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
Goodreads
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Anna never knew
werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack... and
became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she'd
learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. Then
Charles Cornick, the enforcer- and son- of the leader of the North
American werewolves, came into her life.
Charles insists that not
only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf.
And it is Anna's inner strength and calming presence that will prove
invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue
werewolf- a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all
of the pack.
My thoughts...
Cry wolf picks up right where Alpha & Omega
ends. Anna is heading home with Charles and is about to embark on a whole
new world. She was abused and left ignorant by her previous pack. After 3 years
of being a werewolf she's not only learning about what it means to be
part of a pack but also what it means to be mated. However, she doesn't
get much time to settle in to her new surroundings. There is a rogue
werewolf on the loose and Charles and Anna have been sent out to take
care of it.
This book deals a little bit about the difficulty
with their wolves being mated while their human halves try to catch up. They don't start out in love and with the way Anna was treated
previously, she is still very skittish. However, with the task at hand
to find the rogue in the woods they start to come together and Anna
continues to feel more comfortable with Charles. The chemistry between these two may not be explosive but the tenderness that Charles shows for her and the persistence that Anna has to recover from her fears, really made me fall in love with these two. Briggs has a wonderful way of not only creating her world but she puts so much depth in her characters that you feel like they are real.
Favorite quote...
"When a man is on the verge of passing out from pain, it seemed wrong to notice how beautiful he was."
Previous reviews from Alpha & Omega
Alpha & Omega
Joining us today, we have Amber Lynn Natusch, author of the urban fantasy series, Caged. She's stopping by to give us an excerpt from Caged and also giving two lucky readers a chance to win a copy of Caged.
If you're dying to know more
about me, allow me to put you at ease. I'm a sharp-tongued, sarcastic
cancer, who loves vegetable smoothies, winter storms, and the word
'portfolio'. I should NEVER be caffeinated, and require at least eight
hours of sleep to even resemble a human being. At thirty-four, I just
now feel like I can keep a straight face while saying the word "rectum"
(which is actually a huge lie because I just laughed out loud while
reading this to my husband). I live with my iPod firmly affixed to my
body, drive too fast, and laugh/cry at inappropriate times.
For more information about Amber visit her website.
You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
When I was asked to compose a guest blog post, I had no idea what to write. As an author, it was an especially low moment. Then a great friend suggested that I take an excerpt from the first novel in my series, Caged, and explain what I loved about it. Genius! Times like this illustrate my need for a team of levelheaded people around me―an entourage of rational thinkers.
The unfortunate reality for me was that my favorite scenes from Caged all contain spoilers, but I still managed to find some good ones :)
For this blog, I chose a scene that illustrates the game of cat and mouse that Ruby and Sean play throughout the book. You can just never quite tell what Sean is up to, or if he can be trusted. Their banter is always entertaining, even in stressful situations, and I think that speaks to their connection, be it good or bad. So, without further ado, I give you Ruby and Sean in the “parked car” incident.
I changed quickly after class and put on my iPod before waving in the general direction of everyone as I walked out onto the street. I secured my messenger bag so that it wouldn't bang around while I ran back home. My legs seemed especially tired that evening, so I started off walking, hoping that they would quickly be inspired to get with the game plan to run home.
The trip through town could be a bit unnerving in the dark. Winding through the main streets of the city was safe, but I could freak myself out sometimes, ducking down alleys and roads that weren't well traveled during the evening. There were always people out when I hit the bar district, but other than that, they were few and far between.
I'd never actually walked home before, and after about ten minutes, I started to realize why. Running seemed to numb my awareness of certain things in a way that walking did not. I didn't get as much time to focus on the upcoming dumpster and what could be lurking behind it, or what could be around the dimly-lit corner laying in wait. Even worse than the general anxiety I was giving myself was the very definitive feeling that someone was following me. I was picking up on something that was not especially warm and fuzzy, but whenever I turned to see if someone was there, I was alone. Very, very alone.
And I slowly started to panic.
My legs soon realized that running was in our collective best interest and off we went. As I began to run I hoped the malevolent energy around me would lessen but it didn't. With my increasing panic came increasing speed. I hurdled over objects in the street and wove through parked cars like a heat-seeking missile aimed straight for the warmth of home. I didn't look back anymore, knowing that whoever was throwing that energy my way would inconveniently not be seen. Common sense dictated that it would be best to take out my earphones, but the thought of hearing my pursuer disturbed me too much. Beyond that, I needed the adrenaline rush that Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name Of" was giving me, although the title wasn't very reassuring.
I was about two minutes from home when I neared Market Street. There would be people out for sure on a Saturday night, so I thought I'd be in the clear. I rounded the corner to see precious few walking the streets. It was an improvement, but not what I'd hoped for.
As I neared home, I reached around to my bag in a desperate effort to find my keys, all the while chastising myself for not having them already in hand. Personal safety was never my strong suit and I was painfully aware of it at that moment. After two blocks of searching, I managed to pull my keys from the bag, only to immediately fumble them. They flew through the air in slow motion as I helplessly watched them crash to the pavement and skid underneath a parked car.
“Shit!” I muttered angrily to myself.
My timing couldn't have been more off. At that particular moment the street was clear of any life that I could see. Still, I felt that negative energy there, nagging at me. It wasn't getting stronger, but it wasn't getting any weaker either. Having no other options, I threw myself onto my hands and knees, trying to figure out the best way to retrieve my keys from under the high-end Mercedes that was running some wicked defense. When I realized I couldn't reach them any other way, I flopped down on my belly and wiggled under the perfectly engineered undercarriage, midway back towards the far tire.
“Gotcha!”
I had my keys in hand and was ready to inelegantly worm my way back out the way I'd come in. I turned to check my trajectory and felt ice immediately shoot through my spine. In my line of sight was a very large and very manly pair of shoes. As I lay there sweating, trying to concoct a plan, my attention snapped to the two pairs of equally masculine shoes on the other side of the car. Great...they're multiplying!
"Hey, Jay? Did you park the car on a girl again?" an unfamiliar voice shouted.
"Nope. This one wasn't there when I pulled up," replied the man I assumed was Jay.
"Have no fear gentlemen, I know this one. I seem to get this view of her often."
Sean...
I launched myself from under the car to see him smiling down at me first before his gaze drifted over the top of the car to his friends. I was certain they were finding great amusement in both the situation as well as my general appearance. I was covered in sweat and dirt, and wet from the puddle I'd managed to land directly in under the car.
"Is there a reason you were getting familiar with my exhaust system? You wouldn't happen to be a fan of German engineering, would you?" Sean asked.
"Actually, I am,” I replied with a haughty tone. “I dropped my keys...I had to get them. This is your car?"
"It is,” he said. “One of them, anyways. We were just heading home. Where are you headed looking so..." he asked, gesturing at me strangely. I couldn't tell if he was amused or confused by what I had going on.
"Home," I replied, trying to wipe some of the nastiness off of my shirt.
"You seem stressed. Something wrong?" he asked with obvious curiosity.
"Uh, no. No, everything is fine," I said unconvincingly. I did realize as I was saying it that the energy that had me diving under his car was gone. Completely. "I'm just hungry. I need to go home and eat something."
"Do you need a ride?" he asked while looking me up and down, no doubt assessing the damage my dirt-covered body would do to his car's leather interior.
"Nope. I'm good. Thanks," I blurted as I started off down the street.
"Do you need an escort?" he asked, my back still facing him.
"Not necessary," I said without looking over my shoulder. Mortified didn't begin to cover what I was feeling at the time. I wanted, just for once, to not make a complete ass of myself in front of him, but that seemed too much to ask.
He said nothing in response, but I heard the growl of his car's engine as it started up. I continued down the street at a brisk pace; running was out of the question as my body was way too spent. The threat appeared to be gone anyways.
The Mercedes purred as it pulled up slowly next to me, the window lowered so he could speak.
"Be sure to keep a firm grip on those keys, Ruby."
"I'll be sure to do that, Sean," I said, forcing a smile.
He smiled back, turning up the stereo as he pulled away. While his speakers pumped The Fray's "I'll Look After You", the words hauntingly echoed through the street. And my mind.
I guess he believed in theme songs too.
Win an e-copy of the first book in the series, Caged. Giveaway open internationally.
Caged
(Caged, #1)
By: Amber Lynn Natusch
Genre: Urban Fantasy
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I stood in the
middle of the room, unmoving – I barely breathed. My life had just
become surreal, impossible, and one enormous lie. I needed to go, to run
somewhere, anywhere to beat back the reality that was rapidly closing
in around me. The image of him was burned into my retina, flashing over
and over again like a warning. He was trapped somewhere between human
and decidedly not, and I realized that was my new reality.
I was too.
After
the death of her parents, Ruby awakens from a lifetime of shadows and
finds herself alone, thrust into a world of lies, deceit, betrayal and
the supernatural.
As her quest for truth continues to come up short, she realizes that maybe some questions really are best left unanswered.
When
her true identity is finally unveiled, she is forced to choose between
two of the mysterious men who continually seem to crop up in her life.
She chooses poorly.
Now abandoned, Ruby must learn to call on the darkness within to survive, or spend a hellish eternity imprisoned because of it.
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Faefever
(Fever, #3)
By: Karen Marie Moning
Publisher: Delecorte Press
Published: Sept 16, 2008
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too. When
MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she
is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.
Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh
takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a
suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance
with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and
Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon
locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.
As All
Hallows’ Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking
truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a
deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds—with
devastating consequences.
My thoughts...
Great
continuation of the story. There is a new cop who has taken an interest
in Mac and is hell bent on getting the answers he wants. After being
attacked by Sidhe-seers, Mac goes to the Abbey to confront Ro. Vlaine
tries to be more humanly towards Mac in order to get close to her. We
find out that not only do the shade fear Barrons but a Seelie Prince
does as well. And there is a group of Druids who is trying to keep all
hell from breaking loose on earth.
I like that at the beginning
of every book is a prologue that fills you in on the story up to that
point. So you don't technically have to read the previous books because
you are filled in but what fun would that be?
This didn't have a
lot of stuff going on with it. We still don't know WHAT Barrons is.
There is really no interaction with LM (Lord Master). However, there is
the introduction to new characters. The cop that takes over Mac's case
is seen a lot in the story, Mac and the sidhe-seers have more
interaction and Mac finds out that Christian is really a druid who is
trying to protect the walls from falling down between our world and the
fae world.
Favorite part...
Mac makes what
she calls a MacHalo which is a helmet that has flashlights strapped to
it to keep the fae "shades" away from her. She is in the living quarters
of the bookstore blasting music, mock fighting/dancing and singing
along when she notices Barrons standing in the doorway watching her.
When she turns her back to Barrons to turn off the music she hears him
snort.
"When I heard a choked sound behind me I spun, and shot him a
hostile glare. He wore his usual expression of arrogance and boredom. I
resumed my path for the sound dock, and heard it again. This time when I
turned back, the corners of his mouth were twitching. I stared at him
until they stopped. I reached the sound dock, and just turned it off,
when he exploded.
I whirled. "I didn't look that funny", I snapped.
His shoulders shook.
"Oh, come on! Stop it!"
He
cleared his throat and stopped laughing. Then his gaze too a quick dart
upward, fixed on my blazing MacHalo, and he lost it again."
-It is probably the first time that Barrons has ever really laughed so far.
Previous reviews from the Fever series...
Darkfever
Bloodfever
Monster in My Closet
(Monster Haven, #1)
By: R.L. Naquin
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: July 30, 2012
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
I stopped believing in
monsters long ago. But I knew I wasn’t imagining things when I found one
in my kitchen baking muffins. I’d seen him before: lurking in my
closet, scaring the crap out of my five-year-old self. Turns out that
was a misunderstanding, and now Maurice needs a place to stay. How could
I say no?
After all, I’ve always been a magnet for the
emotionally needy, and not just in my work as a wedding planner. Being
able to sense the feelings of others can be a major pain. Don’t get me
wrong, I like helping people—and non-people. But this ability has turned
me into a gourmet feast for an incubus, a demon that feeds off
emotional energy. Now, brides are dropping dead all over town, and my
home has become a safe house for the supernatural. I must learn to focus
my powers and defeat the demon before he snacks on another innocent
woman and comes looking for the main course.
My thoughts...
We've
all been afraid of monsters in our closet or under our beds when we
were kids. But when Zoey was 5 years old, she really did have a monster
in her closet. So imagine her surprise when she wakes up one morning and
finds the closet monster from her childhood is not only sitting at her
kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading her newspaper... but
making muffins as well! Not only are the monsters in our closets real
but so are incubi, pixies and brownies as well. Apparently Zoey is a "helper". It's in her nature to
help others and the "hidden" are starting to flock to Zoey for help,
which is where she meets all these new and different creatures. Not only
are these creatures of folklore real but apparently she has gained the
unwanted attention of an incubus.
Let me start out by quoting the first paragraph of the book, just so you get a snippet of how awesome this book is.
"Of
all the possible weapons I might have grabbed, I chose a toilet brush.
The men's boxers and oversized Hello Kitty t-shirt I wore reinforced my
feeling of absolute stupidity. I made a mental note to buy myself a
baseball bat, should I live through the next few minutes. And maybe some
grownup pajamas."
I really liked this story. I liked all
the creatures that Naquin brought to the table. I must admit that I had
no idea what a brownie was at the time of reading this but when Zoey
starts cleaning off barbie furniture for them to use when they show up
to her house for help, you get a sense of their size and between that
and her description of them, I could easily picture them in my mind. Not
only were the creatures unique in the story but the humans that are
involved are different as well. Zoey meets a guy at the beginning of
the book named Andrew who can see auras, has an herb shop and can whip
up a tea that can cure just about anything. Oh yeah... and he has a
Fennec Fox as a pet! You see what I mean? Naquin not only wrote a
fabulous story but she thought outside the box throughout the entire
thing.
If you are looking for a fun new urban fantasy that is
not your typical vampire, shape shifter, angel, ghost... whatever...
this is the book. You won't find ANY of the typical creatures that are in the mainstream books in Monster in My Closet.
Favorite quote...
"Nice
one, Zoey. You did everything short of farting in there. Maybe if you
see him again, you can tell him you have a yeast infection."
Blood Bonds
(City of Dragons, #1)
By: Adrienne Wilder
Publisher: Gray Zone Publishing
Published: Feb. 16, 2012
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
Goodreads
Amazon
Living with Humans is
never easy. They don’t do scent exchange, they don’t lick palms, and
they have this thing called “personal space”.
As the first and
only Kin Agent for the Center of Folk and Kin Relations, Haley Night’s
job is to help keep the public safe by helping keep the peace. But after
an interview with serial man-eater Niles Fury goes terribly wrong,
Haley finds herself face-to-face with a plot to destroy her
species--genocide.
With the help from her best friend and partner
Farley, she sets off on a race against time to stop a madman’s plot to
destroy Kin. It’s a journey that will put to the test everything she
thought she knew: Kin have no God, survive at all costs, and love is
only a Human emotion.
Welcome to Atlanta, Georgia… City of Dragons…
My thoughts...
This
is a whole new take on Dragons and I thought it was perfect. Most of
the dragonkin books I've read, the dragons are short
tempered but seem domesticated. Adrienne Wilder takes a whole different spin on them though
that was extremely interesting. The dragons don't act, look or behave
like humans. Their way of greeting is by licking palms. Since there are
very few Females every Male that Haley comes across waits for permission
to touch her and when it is granted they lick her palm and always try
to keep physical contact with her via skin to skin touch, which can look
a little perverted to human officers when she is questioning someone in
the Tank and he's licking her calf. Not only is the behavior different
from what I have normally read but the Kin must feed on each other by
not only drinking blood but eating each others flesh to feed off of the
metaphysical energy. However, the lower Kin on the food chain end up
being the Food and Haley's best friend Farley just so happens to be
Food. He learned immediately after hatching that because he was the
smallest and weakest he had to fully submit to all Dominants in order to
stay alive. The whole concept Wilder has on the dragonkin is so gritty
and feral that you never for a second forget that you are reading a book about dragonkin.
Haley was raised by a human and therefor
imprinted on humans. She acts and looks more like a human than her own
kind. The only thing that gives away her true identity is the nevus (Kin
mark) on her neck that no one see's. So a lot of humans mistake her for
their own. She doesn't have the same mentality as the rest of her Kin.
She doesn't view herself above others, she doesn't have a hunger for
human flesh (which is illegal) and she doesn't plan on marking any Males as her's.
There
are a lot of crazy terms in this book and the glossary in the front
definitely helps with that. I found myself flipping to the glossary a
lot to look up meanings. Was it distracting? A little, but the fact that
the Kin have their own language made the story more authentic as well. I
really did enjoy this story and look forward to reading the next book
in the series.
Favorite quote...
"So far he's been about as helpful as a paper cut."
Stained
By: Jessica McBrayer
Publisher: Mess of Geckos
Published: Oct. 14, 2011
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Author
Rating:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Thorn works after dark.
That’s when she combines her gifts as a tattoo artist and her powers as a
natural born witch to weave magick into her ink. Her tattoo parlor,
Stained, on Berkeley’s quirky Telegraph Avenue draws clients from all
walks of life. Her work is in high demand from the supernatural
community and the undead.
With her raven familiar, Thorn’s been
on the run all her adult life. She won’t talk about why. She only wants
to practice her art in peace. But when a murderer targets her clients,
Sé, a tall, dark and Irish detective is assigned to investigate. They
must trust each other and survive the cat and mouse game that ensues.
My thoughts...
To
the average person, Thorn appears to be your average tattoo artist. She
does great work on tattoos and has a long waiting list of customers
waiting to get their next ink fix. What people don't know is that she is
actually a witch. Not only that but some of her "special" customers
want an enchanted talisman worked into their tattoo for protection,
wealth etc. However, when her "special" customers start becoming targets
of a serial killer whom cuts out these talisman, Thorn is not only in
danger because it is clear that the killer is taunting her but she's
also a suspect in the local authorities eyes.
Thorn was a pretty
interesting character. You would think with being a tattoo artist,
riding a bike and being a witch that she would be this kick-ass
character but she's really not. She's been on the run for quite some
time and really doesn't like trouble. There is even a scene where she
gets the crap kicked out of her and just sort of takes the beating
without using her spells for fear of revealing herself as a witch.
Then
you have Se, the sexy Irish detective. I found his character to be
really intriguing. He comes in when the murders pop up to ask Thorn a
couple of questions. He instantly knows that she's a witch since he has
the "sight", his grandmother was a witch so he grew up around it. He
tries to stay as professional as he can when it comes to Thorn but when
she becomes the #1 suspect, he warns Thorn that they are coming to
arrest her to give her time to run. There was just something about his
character that I really liked.
I thought for McBrayar's debut
novel, that she did a great job. I really liked the idea of the story
and felt that as a whole it was pretty good. It held my attention the
entire time and I found myself staying up at night just to get to the
end of the story. However, there were a couple of problems I had with
the book. One, there were grammar issues in the story and second, I
found some of the dialogue to be a bit choppy in some spots. Some of the
things the characters said just didn't seem real to me either. However, that didn't ruin the story for me but
it did keep me from getting 100% engrossed in the story. I definitely
enjoyed Stained and look forward to reading more from this author.
Favorite part...
Thorn
has a familiar whom is a Raven. The raven can talk into her mind and
can speak and understand English. When Se and Scettico show up at
Thorn's apartment, Raven takes that opportunity to let Scettico know
what he thinks of him while playing the "dumb bird" role.
Raven flew from his perch and Scettico
suddenly had a foul streak down his suit. Se coughed, a sound that
sounded suspiciously like laughter.
"Raven!" Thorn admonished
"Pretty bird, Pretty bird." Raven sang.
Giveaway Time!
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Bloodfever
(Fever, #2)
By: Karen Marie Moning
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: Oct 16, 2007
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Bought
Rating:
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I used to be your
average, everyday girl but all that changed one night in Dublin when I
saw my first Fae, and got dragged into a world of deadly immortals and
ancient secrets...
In her fight to stay alive, MacKayla must
find the Sinsar Dubh—a million-year-old book of the blackest magic
imaginable, which holds the key to power over the worlds of both the Fae
and Man. Pursued by assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she
knows she can’t trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and
powerful men: V’lane, the immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a
man as irresistible as he is dangerous.
For centuries the shadowy
realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls
between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands
between them.
My thoughts...
Mac
is still figuring out her powers while staying in Barrons' bookstore.
Barrons is still the same except towards the end you start to see him
get a bit possessive over Mac. This book pretty much picks up where
Darkfever left off.
However, in this book there are new
characters added into the story. Mac finds other Sidhe-seer's who have
congregated together in an abbey and she makes a visit with them to figure
out who/what she is.
Barrons is still the same. However, he is
starting to show feelings towards Mac. He doesn't try to woo her but he
has started to view her more as the "woman Mac" than as his OOP detector.
When she disappears with V'lane he is incredibly jealous and pissed.
However, no matter what happens in this book he still maintains his
distant cool and acts like she doesn't matter to him.
This book
didn't really progress story-wise, it was more like a build up for the
next book. You find out the Mac cannot be near the book without passing
out because she is too pure. She finds other sidhe-seer's like her and
plans to get answers from them. She meets up with a guy who knew her
sister before she died. All of these go unanswered with promises that
the next book will fill you in.
Favorite quotes...
"Yes, I have loved, Ms. Lane, and although it's none of your business, I have
lost. Many things. And no, I am not like any other player in this game
and I will never be like V'lane, and I get a hard-on a great deal more
often than occasionally. Sometimes it's over a spoiled little girl, not a
woman at all." -Barrons
"I was about to look away when he
reached across the seat, touched my jaw with his long, strong, beautiful
fingers, and caressed my face.
Being touched by Jericho Barrons with
kindness makes you feel like you must be the most special person in the
world. It’s like walking up to the biggest, most savage lion in the
jungle, lying down, placing your head it its mouth and, rather than
taking your life, it licks you and purrs." -Mac
Previous reviews from the Fever series
Darkfever
