Sleight of Hand (Bite Back #1) by Mark Henwick Self-published (Aug 2012) | Ebook, 327 pages Urban Fantasy Guest Reviewer: Lee Sleight of Hand follows Amber Farrell, Denver private investigator and ex-member of Army special ops. Amber is having a rough week. She solves a case that inadvertently puts her at odds with a high profile drug trafficking network and then takes on a new case from the wealthy and powerful Jenny Kingslund, who seems to have a lot of enemies – all this while spying on the Athanate community of…
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (All Souls Trilogy #2) Headline (July 2012) Hardcover, 592 pages Paranormal Romance Guest Reviewer: Claire Marriott Shadow of Night takes up the story of Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont who were left suspended in time at the end of the prequel to this story, A Discovery of Witches. I would certainly recommend a re-read of the prequel before picking up this book as Deborah Harkness plunges the reader straight into the action which might make it a bit tricky to keep the complex story…
The Alchemist of Souls (Night’s Masque #1) by Anne Lyle Angry Robot (March, 2012) | Ebook, 480 pages | Fantasy Guest Reviewer: Julia A sweeping story that engrossed me on many levels, The Alchemist of Souls kept me guessing with nuanced characters, unexpected world building, and a fascinating blend of real and imagined history. The switching view points expertly kept several plots in the air at once, and I would be hard pressed to choose which of the several charming lead characters emerged as my favorite overall. Mal and Coby are both…
Hunting Kat (Triton Experiment #1) by P. J. Schnyder Carina Press (July 2011) | Kindle, 80 pages Sci-Fi Romance Guest Reviewer: Grete Evans This is actually a hard story to review because I both loved it and was also a bit disappointed with it. I really liked the premise and it had many elements that I love; good writing, engaging characters, hot sex and shapeshifters in an intriguing sci-fi setting. The disappointment came from it only being 25,000 words. While it is definitely a complete story, it still felt like two chapters…
Demon Bait by Moira Rogers (Children of the Undying #1) Samhain Publishing (Nov 2011) Ebook, 90 pages Paranormal Romance Guest Reviewer: Julia In Demon Bait Moira Rogers has created a magically-charged, dystopian landscape with just the right amount of action, world building, and romance. Rogers’ world is reminiscent of the dynamic in Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changling series. Not that our heroine has been emotionally neutered, just that the life for people in mainstream communities has been… sanitized. Breaking social boundaries and forging out into the frontier, Demon Bait has only whetted my…
Devilishly Hot by Kathy Love (Devilishly #1) Brava Books (Nov 2011) Paperback, 320 pages Paranormal Romance Guest Reviewer: Casey Normally when I’m reading a book by Kathy Love, I start laughing like a hyena with the first sentence. Sometimes it doesn’t happen until the end of the first paragraph. Either way, I know that when I read a book by Kathy Love, I’m going to laugh and not stop laughing for a long time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with her latest novel, Devilishly Hot. I think I only giggled once….
The Spiral Path by Lisa Paitz Spindler Carina Press (March 2011) | Kindle, 122 pages Sci-Fi Romance Guest Reviewer: Grete Evans This has to be the best example of science-fiction romance I’ve come across yet. The characters were well written and brought to life in such a way that I came to care about them in a very short time. Their backstories were really well fleshed out which was impressive given the length of the book. The plot was both intriguing and well set. Even though this was a novella,…
Spellbound (Spellbound #1) by Cara Lynn Shultz Harlequin Teen (June 2011) | Ebook, pages Paranormal YA Guest Reviewer: Casey When I started reading Spellbound, I figured it would be another one of those cutesy, kind of romantic, fluff stories that are rather rampant in YA. (Not that I don’t like those books, they’re just not my favorites.) Spellbound took me by surprise by being so much more than that. Spellbound was a love story through and through. It made the romantic in me sigh in happiness. Yet there was enough magic…
Queenie’s Brigade by Heather Massey Red Sage Publishing (July 2011) | Kindle, 114 pages Sci-Fi Romance Guest Reviewer: Grete Evans I liked that the connection with Captain Michael Drake was established straight away, from the memories of his past to the nightmare he now finds himself in. As a character he had all the things that hold my attention – integrity, determination, and the will to survive, not just for himself but for his crewmates as well. Queenie was a harder sell for me and I think that was mainly down to…
Winter Wishes (Anthology) by Vivi Andrews, Vivian Arend, Moira Rogers Carina Press (Nov 2010) Ebook, 283 pages Paranormal Romance Guest Reviewer: Christina Durner Tangled Tinsel is the tale of Kyle Branegan, a cat shifter who is trying to hide is involvement in the Cougar Corp, and Eloise Scott, a cat shifter who happens to be an undercover cop for the human police force. When Kyle thinks his tryst with Eloise will be a brief and steamy romp that will be over and done with as quickly as it happens, he…
Rosebush by Michele Jaffe Atom Books (March 2011) | Paperback, 336 pages YA Thriller Guest Reviewer: Vivienne When the story begins everything is rosy in Jane’s life. It appears that she has the most perfect life of a high school princess; everyone loves her, everyone wants to be her friend and every girl wants to be her. Yet within reading a couple of chapters, you realise that you have been looking at her world through rose tinted glasses and the reality of her life, is that someone desperately wants to…
Title: The Scorpio Races Author: Maggie Stiefvater Publisher: Scholastic Publication Date: Oct 2011 ARC: 400 pages Genre: Fantasy Young Adult Source: Review copy from publisher Guest Review by Sarah Feeling Fictional | @sarahsreviews RATING: 7/10 SUMMARY: It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he…
Blood Magic (The Blood Journals #1) by Tessa Gratton | Paperback, 405 pages Doubleday Children’s (July 2011) Paranormal YA Guest Reviewer: Vicki Wow, wow, and wow I LOVED this book. I’d had it sitting on my to read pile a while and although I was looking forward to it, I wasn’t desperately excited about it. So when I turned to the first page I wasn’t expecting to be anywhere near as gripped as I was. Combining two of my favourite styles – duel narrative and flashback diary entries, along with a…
Title: Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful #1) Author: Yvonne Woon Publisher: Usborne (UK) | Hyperion (US) Publication Date: May 2011 (UK) | Aug 2011 (US) Paperback: 512 pages Genre: Paranormal Young Adult Source: Review copy from publisher Guest Review by Dot Dot Scribbles | @Dot_Scribbles RATING: 4/10 SUMMARY: DESIRE. DANGER. DESTINY. Little did I know that this is what I would find at Gottfried Academy. Coming from sunny California, the mist-shrouded academy was a shock, with it’s strange customs, ancient curriculum and study of Latin- the language of the dead. Then…
Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth HarperCollins (May 2011) | Paperback, 489 pages Science Fiction | Young Adult Guest Reviewer: Sarah In a world divided into different factions Tris must make a difficult decision – she must select one of the factions and this will have a major impact on her future. Born to Abnegation, a faction that believes in selflessness above everything else, Tris must decide if she will stay with her family or move to another faction and probably never see them again. Will she pick Candor who believe…
