Review of Darkness Devours by Keri Arthur

 

Publisher: Signet Select

Series: Dark Angels #3

Format Read: Mass Market Paperback

Release Date: June 26, 2012

Buying Links:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble  The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads): *contains spoilers for previous books*

Half-werewolf, half-Aedh Risa Jones can enter the realm between life and death, and she can see the Reapers who collect the souls of the dead. Now, she is using her gifts—and the investigative know-how of a man who broke her heart—to find a cabal searching for the power to control time, reality, and fate. And this is besides her work for the Vampire Council, half of whom want her dead.

    But for now the Council needs her alive. Someone is killing blood-whore addicted      vampires, and Risa must find the guilty party. If she succeeds, she may finally convince the council to lift the execution order on her life. But before she succeeds, she must first survive…

Bea's Thoughts:   *contains spoilers for previous books*

Risa's hunt for her mother's killer takes a back seat in this story. The focus is on her dealings with the vampire council and on her hunt for the keys. There's little overlap between the story lines. She and Azriel grow closer though trust is still an issue between them; I admit, I got tired of Risa's continual distrust. Azriel has proven repeatedly that he's trustworthy; no, he doesn't tell her everything she wants to know but he's honest about that. I hope that the next book shows a deepening of her trust because the lack of it is getting boring and annoying. There's progress in Tao's storyline also, which I was happy to see and there's potential for a range of new subplots.

Lucian has a smaller part in this book, due to something that happens early on. He's not nearly as trustworthy as Risa has thought and she has serious second thoughts about him in this book. I think he will betray her at some point, it's just a matter of time. I could be wrong but it's one of the few things I'm certain of in this series. :D

 As if Risa's love life weren't complicated enough, along comes a former boyfriend, Jak, a reporter whose help she decides she needs. I'm a little worried that he may be a serious contender as a romantic interest. My worry is that Risa is starting to acquire all these men who want to be with her a la Mary Sue plus I just don't like him. Granted, each man has different reasons for being with her and she has very different attractions to each of them but if Arthur isn't careful she could have an Anita Blake on her hands, and that, for me, would kill the series. 

At times the story line with Jak and his help with the hunt for the keys overtook the storyline with the vampire council. It was interesting most of the time and moved things along in baby steps but honestly it could have been the whole book and moved the story along more dramatically; the vampire council storyline was filler. The vampire council is all about politics, as we've seen previously. Risa has to prove herself, prove her worth, to them or lose her life. The case they assign her is a challenging one as the people being killed are not ones she's sorry to see die; her sympathies lean more toward the killer though that does change as the story goes on. I thought the whole story line was unnecessary; we already know that Hunter is manipulative and not to be trusted, we know that Risa is obliged to help Hunter; it just didn't add anything or advance the storyline in any way that I can see. Actually, I take that back. The storyline does allow for some interaction with Amaya and a change in Risa's relationship with her/it. But, that could have been done using the main storyline. Also, Riley is noticeably absent in this book, though Roane has some brief appearances. Given that Risa was dealing with ghosts, Riley's absence was a gaping hole and the rationale for keeping her uninvolved was weak.

Overall, this is an okay entry in the series. Risa develops her abilities further and she becomes closer to Azriel, which has potential, but most of the story just didn't seem necessary. It was okay, nothing wonderful. I found with Riley's series that there wonderful books and meh books so I expect that the next one will be better.

I received this book from the publisher for review. Ms. Arthur very kindly sent me the first two books in the series so I could read this one and not be lost.

Review of Serpent Queen by J.A. Campbell

Publisher: InkWolf Press
Series: Sky Yarns #1
Format Read: Kindle
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble  

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Aether gas: lighter than air, and more valuable than gold. It gives the mighty airships the ability to fly. Without it, the delicate balance between magic, technology, and nations would crumble.

The pirate ship Serpent Queen doesn’t much care for the balance of nations, except when it affects her profit. So when Captain Adair is hired to smuggle a load of aether gas into Tribunal lands for a rebel group, the crew is happy to do it-as long as they get paid.

It’s a bonus that most of them have been wronged by the Tribunal in the past and this may be a way to unbalance the tyrants.

 Bea's Thoughts:

This was  a fast paced, action packed, emotion filled story that didn’t stint on character development or story line. It’s short but Campbell packs a lot in. A paranormal pirate story in a universe similar to our own. It’s not quite steampunk as it doesn’t appear to be set on Earth or even in our galaxy. Yet it has dirigibles and other devices that might be found in steampunk or even alternative history. It has species found in urban fantasy – vampires and weres while it also has dragons from fantasy and human folk, the Rom, who are obviously based on Gypsies. I’m not sure exactly how categorize this but Campbell makes all the parts work. It’s fun, fast, engaging and I want more.

It’s hard to discuss it without giving away spoilers but there’s betrayal, friendship, politics, a hint of romance, tragedy and action. There are twists and turns that Campbell hints at but when they happen, you’re still surprised in a , “Oh, that’s what that meant!” way. The ending is not quite a cliff-hanger but it’s a little ambivalent. She’s got two more stories planned and who knows, possibly more if all goes well. There are some copy editing and proofreading errors, more than I like in a book of this length, but not so many as to distract from the story.

Give this a read, you won’t regret it.

I own this Kindle book.

This review first appeared at BookTrib.com

Excerpt & Book Blitz: In Jen's Words by Jennifer Brown

In Jen's Words by Jennifer Brown ~ 

Jennifer and Justin Barnes have been raised by their older brother Jacob since they were teenagers…little did Jacob know, he was raising a third personality as well. The Barnes have been through it all. The loss of their parents in a car crash, rape, and incarceration. But nothing could prepare them for what they are about to deal with.  

When Jacob decides to run for mayor of Springwood, Ohio someone else decides to haunt him and his family, using his younger sister’s alter personality as leverage in their game. 

After Jen’s mental disorder is made public, the first of many shocking revelations are made, including who her biological father really is. She is ordered into custody in the mental health wing of Springwood Memorial as a case is built against her for the murder of Davis Cauley, a former local news anchor.

Jacob gets his sister released in time for the holidays, only for another murder to occur. The body of Brenda Sowers, Davis Cauley’s sister is found in Mercy Park, the same area where her brother was found—in a storage shed, with hedge clippers in his back, and Jen across from him with no memory of what happened.

More incriminating evidence links Jen to Brenda’s murder, as Black Friday looms. The big weekend draws Jacob to the mall, where he’s in for another surprise. A photo of his brother sent to his phone reveals another huge secret, involving all of Springwood.

As the Barnes recover from what has been a very turbulent Fall, other secrets are lurking and waiting to be revealed as a family faces a trial of issues to come.

Series: Facing the Issues #1

Genre: Mystery, General Fiction

Format: ebook

Length: 335 pages, 503 KB

Release Date: April 6, 2012

Buy links: No Boundaries Press / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

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About the Author:

Jennifer Brown lives in Springfield Ohio, and has written since third grade. She was taught to read at an early age and fell in love with books, mainly mysteries. Her love of books grew, and in the summer before she started high school she wrote her longest story, halfway filling an old school notebook. In high school she started to enter writing contests, and in her junior and senior years joined the Herald staff becoming entertainment editor over her high school newspaper.

After graduating, with a few writing contest awards under her belt she attended college a year later, and was urged by her English instructor to join the college paper. She did, writing a few reviews of restaraunts and movies, as well as writing a review of her first Alanis Morissette concert. A few years later she was asked to take the position of entertainment editor.

At 37, Jennifer has written several stories and has many more in store for readers.  When she is not writing she likes reading, working on computer graphics, editing photos, listening to music, and brainstorming for new ideas!

Website

  

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Excerpt:

After speaking his sister’s name several times into the receiver, with no response, Jacob hung up. He tried calling back, but got a busy signal.

He hadn’t talked to Danny for more than five minutes. She couldn’t have gotten tired of waiting for him.

He sat down on an armchair nearby, trying to tell himself this was nothing. But ever since Scott had shown up at the store earlier, he felt a little on edge. Scott was the last person either of them needed to see at this time. Just seeing him brought back all the anger he felt back then.

He could still remember that night. He was at work, trying to close up for the evening. He had been running late because Dan had gone home sick and he had gotten swamped with computers needing repaired.

Justin had been the one to reach him. He had been home and got the call from the police. Their sister had been raped. They needed Jacob to come to the hospital. He had been so upset, he nearly forgot to lock up the store when he left.

The moment he laid eyes on Jen, he could have crumbled. She had a few cuts and bruises on her arms and face, but she said she had done that on some bushes trying to get away from Scott. The police had said the cuts were consistent with those of a thorn bush. But it didn’t matter to Jacob. He had been responsible for her, and he screwed up. Even though she was of age, and she was no longer his responsibility, he still felt every bit that she was.

What would ensue from that moment on, was months of tension and emotional turmoil. The case went to court, and the argument went back and forth. His sister said she told him no, she passed out and he did it anyway. She woke up to find him pulling out of her. Scott said she seemed to become a totally different person and gave in to him, was willing. He never forced anything on her, even though he did admit to being drunk. His arrest report said his blood alcohol level was .12, while his sister’s barely made it to .08. It seemed to be a sure thing he would go down for the crime, until one of the jurors posted a blog about the trial. As a consequence, Adams’ lawyer got the judge to declare a mistrial. 

Jacob willed himself to stop thinking about it. Just because Scott was in his store didn’t mean something had happened to his sister.  Shaking inside, he got up, grabbed his keys and went out the door.

 

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Book Trailer for SENSHI by Cole Gibsen

                     SENSHI


Is Rileigh’s only hope for salvation to team up with her sworn enemy?

Rileigh Martin just wants to do normal teenage things, like go on romantic dates with Kim, her boyfriend and past life soul mate. Although that seems impossible when she’s the reincarnation of Senshi, a fifteenth century samurai warrior. After a ninja ambush leaves her unable to control her ki powers, Rileigh vows to get them under control before her friends lose more than their eyebrows. But when Kim leaves her for his past life betrothed and the other samurai stop talking to her, Rileigh realizes she doesn’t have any friends left to worry about.

As the ninja attacks increase, Rileigh learns that the reincarnated kunoichi, a powerful female ninja, wants to kill her in order to reclaim her destructive powers. Alone and with increasingly unstable powers, Rileigh’s only offer of help comes from Whitley, her sworn past life enemy. Rileigh knows she doesn’t stand a chance against the kunoichi by herself, but Whitley’s sudden allegiance might be hiding a much deadlier agenda.

Pre-Order

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Author Cole Gibsen

When Cole Gibsen isn't writing books for young adults, she can be found rocking out with her band, sewing crazy costumes for the fun of it, picking off her nail polish, or drinking milk straight from the jug -- provided no one is looking.

Twitter * Website * Facebook

Trailer Reveal



Senshi Book Trailer from ZFilm on Vimeo.

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