Coming soon: Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane

Releasing: Del Rey (June 22, 2010)

THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED.

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.– Amazon

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Warning: Sexually explicit post…….

Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

Favorite Lines: “Last word she ever said. I flicked my wrist, and the sharp point of the screw zipped across the room and sank into her throat, puncturing her windpipe. Ace. Evelyn’s scream turned into a whistling wheeze. She slid from her plastic chair and hit the floor. Her hand wrapped around the screw, and she pulled it free. Blood spattered onto the carpet, looking like an abstract Rorschach pattern. Stupid of her. She might have lived another minute if she’d left it in her throat.” (p. 7)

Gin, aka Spider is an assassin who works at a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit. Her handler Fletcher lines up well paying assignments for her, but she’s also been known to take on pro bono cases as well. Gin is more than a talented killer, she is a Stone elemental who can also call Ice magic.

When a quick and easy killing goes wrong, Gin finds her handler dead and herself on the run. It leads her to Detective Donovan Caine, a man who doesn’t know what he wants from her. The Spider killed his partner.

Working together in order to stay alive, the two follow the trail of corruption in various directions while trying to stay ahead of an Air elemental who isn’t afraid to get her hands a little bloody.

Reading about an assassin is not high on my to do list, well it wasn’t before I read Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep. Now I can’t wait for the next installment about the elemental assassin. Told in first person, the story jumps into action with a murder gone right and keeps on running. While there were no huge surprises in the story, the well-rounded characters made the reading enjoyable. The ability for all characters to grow helped endear them to me, and there wasn’t one person that I wanted to die. Add the possibility of Gin and the detective having sex and you’ve got tension that seems to be building up to an orgasm.

I’m not a huge fan of Donovan Caine, but I appreciate the way Gin handles him. She isn’t snippy nor does she ever try to cram information down his throat. She kinda steps aside and lets him figure it out. She recognizes Donovan’s dilemma of brain versus body. His body wants Gin, but his mental aversion keeps her at bay.

I love books with a quick pace, interesting people and endings that don’t feel forced which makes Spider’s Bite a winner with me, if you couldn’t already tell. Book two, Web of Lies, will be released May 25, 2010, according to Amazon. I think this book will dig into the Spider’s past and picks up soon after the end of Spider’s Bite.

Review: Embrace the Night by Joss Ware

Favorite Lines: “Gangas were slow and clumsy. They couldn’t climb. But they were bigger than a man and a half, and strong, and they ate human flesh … after tearing it into bite-sized pieces.” (p. 52)

In 2010 earthquakes forced part of the U.S.A. to sink. They were followed by an illness that killed a large majority of the survivors. Fifty years later, a group of rebels discovered that the “Strangers,” a rich man’s club were responsible for the destruction of civilization. The Strangers are immortal, but five men, all damaged in different ways, survived. And they all have special powers.

Simon Japp was a dangerous man before the world collapsed. He has been given a second chance and a wonderful ability to use on his search for redemption. When he is paired with Sage Corrigan he fights to keep her at bay, determined that he is undeserving of her and happy life. In search of answers, they return to a place Sage escaped as a child and as the tension rises so does their attraction for one another.

I don’t like drug users to be my heroes. That is just me. However, Joss Ware has found a way to turn a person I assume was a junkie into a hero worthy of redemption and a book I will read. Embrace the Night Eternal is a paranormal romance set in the future. It pairs a woman who is scorned and unfairly labeled with a man who cannot see his own worth. The two fit together like peanut butter and jelly.

There are sizzling scenes and moments when I want to smack Simon. There are other moments when I want Sage to “woman up.” I want her to know what she wants and just say it. I wanted Sage and Simon together and any and all odds against them swept away. I became invested in their relationship.

The polygamous setting the couple placed themselves in seemed to be a man’s wet dream come to life. It was a cult setting that I clearly pictured like a movie playing in my mind. And despite my dislike of zombie books, I loved the tiny role they played in this book.

There is a book before Embrace the Night Eternal called, Beyond the Night. I didn’t have a problem reading the series out of order, but I’m sure it would have been easier had I have read book one first.

Winner of surprise package….

Drum roll please . . . Janicu . . . you’ve been selected for a package containing a Dove chocolate rose, They Call me Death by Missy Jane and a Plant Genie. Yeah, it’s random but that is what friends do right? They randomly give friends off the wall shit….

 Now for a message from our sponsor, I mean Steph:

Janicu was realistic with her three-year time frame. I went to meetup.com’s website and researched its mother’s group. The first three get togethers are free, so that means they charge for the meet ups. Most meet ups are on weekends for adults and joining a church group is out because I have to work Sundays. Awesome, right? So working weekends and no family here to babysit are what makes this situation unique.  

By the way, I put myself out there by giving another parent at my daughter’s school my number to set up a play date. She said she’d call me because she had errands to run; that was a week ago. Worse than that, my daughter won’t stop talking about it and asking me when she’s going to call.

 

My husband said maybe I’m cursed. I don’t think so. I’m just a forgettable person. Thanks for trying.

 

Steph, I don’t think you’re forgettable.

Maybe I should start having a “Did she make friends yet” post once a month.

What a Demon Wants by Kathy Love

When I get one of Ms. Love’s books I know exactly what I’m buying…

Favorite Lines: “The skin of her neck was layered in the scales that crept upward and onto her cheek like gills. Her eyes glowed so red they looked like stoplights affixed above too prominent cheekbones.” (p. 162)

She’s No Angel

A bodyguard? Why in the world would a demon need a bodyguard? Yes, it’s true Ellina Kostova is only half demon. . .and an author with a cult following, but that just means strange stuff happens. She isn’t in real danger. Heck, she’s in more danger from Jude Anthony, the guy her brother has hired to protect her. In big danger, actually. Because she just cannot be attracted to. . .well, anyone. She’s too much of a demon in bed. No, really.

Jude has grown accustomed to being an outcast, adrift in both the mortal and preternatural worlds. Being a paid fighting machine isn’t glamorous, but he does it—and many other things—spectacularly well. And man does Ellina Kostova need a lot of protection. But he needs protection, too. She’s making him remember what it feels like to be human. And he’s already learned no good can come of that. Especially when he’s been hired not only to protect her—but also kill her. . .

When I get one of Ms. Love‘s books I know exactly what I’m buying: a humorous story with sexy scenes and fully developed characters. What a Demon Wants was exactly what I thought it’d be …fun.

Ellina is half-human, half-demon. Not demon enough for part of her family and not human enough for the other half. A best-selling author, she hides what and who she is behind her work and is unprepared to deal with the danger that seems to be gathering around her.

Enter Jude the Bodyguard. Ellina’s big brother, Maksim, has hired Jude to protect Ellina, but corny as it seems…Jude is the one who needs his heart protected from Ellina. She is beautiful and he feels drawn to her. Something that hasn’t happened in a very long time. Even though she puts on a peaceful front, he knows that the way she is treated hurts her. He becomes a bodyguard that protects more than her body; he protects her emotions.

What a Demon Wants is a paranormal, romantic suspense, but from the very beginning I knew who the “bad guy” was. The ending was anti-climatic, but the romance was nice.

Help my friend!! Win

Comments are now closed. The winner will be posted in a different post. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and time.

This is an unusal post for me. My buddy Steph moved to Maryland last year. She really hasn’t met anyone and her family life consumes most of her time. Not unusual, right? Well her husband thinks that she should have friends and that it isn’t hard to do. He said, “you can make friends anywhere. Even at the gas station.”

We (Steph and I) disagree. We think that good friends are hard to find and can’t be found just anywhere. So how do you make new friends? Most of the people I talk to in person are people I’ve been friends with since I was a kid or teen. Offer suggestions from now until March 10. Steph will pick the best suggestion to win a surprise package from me, Scooper.