Review: Omega by Susannah Sandlin

Posted on August 9, 2013July 28, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback, audiobook
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: The Penton Legacy, #3
Length: 328 pages
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Date Released: February 5, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

The bloody war between the Vampire Tribunal and the defiant scathe of Penton, Alabama, rages on, forcing its residents and their bonded humans to retreat into the underground fortress of last resort: Omega. There, Will Ludlam is charged with the care of Penton’s humans, though he longs to fight alongside his vampire brethren. He knows the risks: as the renegade son of the Tribunal’s vicious leader, Will’s capture could doom the resistance. Yet he is determined to prove his worth to his adopted scathe, to his vengeful father—and to former US Army officer Randa Thomas, his beautiful, reluctant partner. Randa has little faith that a former member of the vampire elite has what it takes to fight a war. But as their enemies descend upon Omega, Will’s polished charm—and Randa’s guarded heart—finally give way to the warrior within. Fans of Susannah Sandlin’s Penton Legacy are sure to devour this long-awaited third installment of the steamy paranormal series.

My Review:

I think I would call Omega the final volume of the first trilogy of the Penton Legacy. I say this having read that there will be more stories in this world, but Omega certainly lives up to its name; it feels like closure of the first arc.

There are two stories going on, one is the love story, and the other is the war between Aiden Murphy’s followers and the Vampire Tribunal, or at least Matthias Ludlam’s faction. The love story seemed to take a back seat to the war story this time out, and that was just fine.

If all is fair in love and war, both sides definitely played fast and loose with the rules. But Ludlam colored way further outside the lines than the Pentonites. Of course he did, not because he’s a vampire, but because he’s a sadistic asshat.

Matthias has finally managed to manipulate the political situation so that he has carte blanche to do anything necessary to bring Aiden Murphy and Mirren Kincaid back into the Tribunal fold. Matthias Ludlam also has an ulterior motive (I think the man was born with an ulterior motive) to bring his son Will to heel. But he has no clue that any sane person would rather die than be his slave.

None of Matthias’ helpers are exactly sane. They are either temporary hired help or sadists like himself. He’s never understood why Will left.

But he thinks Will is weak and stupid, when the opposite is true. In fact, Will is so strong that he is on the way to becoming a master vampire, a stronger master than his father is or will ever be.

To save their experiment in cooperation, the Pentonites have gone underground at a site they have codenamed Omega. The core group have found a way to take the fight to their enemy in a way that he will eventually understand, through infiltration and espionage.

They send in a spy that Matthias hasn’t met. Cage Reynolds was a psychiatrist. He’s able to figure out just what makes Matthias sickly tick. What he discovers is that someone they all thought was lost, is instead changed and chained. But he can only free her at the cost of his carefully constructed cover.

Have they found enough evidence to convince the Tribunal that it has been pursuing the wrong enemy all along?

Escape Rating B: This was supposed to be about the romance between Will Ludlam and Randa Thomas, and it is there, but it’s not compelling enough. There’s a lot of squabbling but not a lot of heat. I got a lot more sexual tension and romantic interest from Cage and the woman he rescues than from Will and Randa.

Also the way that Will and Randa casually agreed to become mates at the end cheapened the angst that both Aiden and Krys and Mirren and Glory went through over the same thing. In both of the previous books (Redemption and Absolution) there was supposed to be some chemistry involved as well as a blood exchange. I just didn’t feel it with Will and Randa.

But the end of the war between Matthias and Aiden, now that held my attention all the way. Every move and countermove had me riveted. Will’s revelations about his background definitely fed into my feelings about how badly Matthias needed to be taken out and how necessary it was that the good vamps win!

Will coming into his own made for a powerful story. It was the romance side of the equation that just didn’t generate enough heat. But I was very happy to see good triumph and evil mostly get its just desserts. There’s one opportunist on the Tribunal who worries me, so I’m very happy there will be more stories in this world!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Moonlight by Lisa Kessler

Posted on August 8, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 4 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Moonlight by Lisa Kessler Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Series: Moon, #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: July 15, 2013
Number of pages: 265 pages
Publisher: Entangled: Edge
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Author’s website | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Publisher’s Website

Rancher Adam Sloan is more than meets the eye. As the heir to his Pack, the sexy werewolf’s biggest challenge is keeping his kin’s true nature under wraps. But a group of jaguar shifters threatens to reveal the pack, blasting into town killing humans in plain sight. And when he smells one at the local diner, his standing orders are to take her out.

Lana Turpin doesn’t realize she’s a moving target. Raised in the foster system, she only knows that she blacks out during the new moon and wakes up without remembering a thing. But now she’s being tracked by some strange organization that wants her back–even though she’s never stepped foot inside their compound. And the stranger across the diner is watching her like an enemy.

It should be a simple mission for Adam, but when he touches the frustratingly beautiful Lana, his inner wolf howls…mate. Now, the two must find and stop the people who hunt her…and Adam must keep his own family from killing the only woman he will ever love.

My Thoughts:

This should have been a total visit to troperville. Fated mates, genetic experiments and military conspiracies. (Did I mention I’m watching the X-Files for the first time?) Parts of Moonlight would make a great X-file.

But Moonlight totally worked for me. The question would be what made it work?

On the one side, we have werewolves. One werewolf in particular, Adam Sloan. He’s not quite the leader of the pack in Reno, but he is the Alpha’s oldest son. Interesting twist on this particular shapeshifting world, all the werewolves are born as twins. Also, only the males are born wolves; mates start human and have to be converted. Of course, to make things more interesting, not all survive.

Yes, we are dealing with the fated mate trope. It works in this particular story because Adam does have to court his mate. He knows she’s the one, but she doesn’t know. For her, he’s just this hot guy she met and plans to leave after some mind-blowing sex.

Lana can’t afford to let herself get close to anyone, she’s running from the men in the white coats. Really. She has blackouts and these scary dudes are chasing her across the country to lock her up in the name of the so-called “Nero Organization”. She has no clue who they are but she knows they mean her no good.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s a jaguar shifter. She really, really doesn’t know. Lana was abandoned as a baby, she has memory of who her parents were. She doesn’t remember what happens when she blacks out every month during the new moon.

Of course, the jaguars are the enemies of the werewolves. They fight like cats and dogs. Figures, doesn’t it?

The jaguars want Lana back. Except Lana doesn’t know that there is a “back”, because she’s never been “there” to go back to. And that’s where the genetic experiment and conspiracy part of the plot comes in.

Along with an interesting side plot of the old “the enemy of my enemy” might be my ally, at least temporarily. Because one of the jaguars is not too happy at being played for a sucker, particularly not by what he thought was his own side.

Verdict: The story hinges on Lana accepting who and what she is. It’s a long and dangerous journey; she starts out not knowing that shifters exist, from there she has to accept that she is one, that she is being hunted because of it. The story is her search for identity, and that search isn’t completely over when the story ends; but she’s accepted herself and what she is even though she doesn’t know the whole story. And can’t yet (see conspiracy angle)

Adam has to accept responsibility, that’s his arc. He has a position but doesn’t take the responsibility at the beginning of the story, by the end he’s shouldered all the burdens. His is also a big transformation.

But because Lana is not a wolf, even though she’s his mate, she doesn’t know and because Adam’s been quite a player, no one else believes him. Especially since the jaguars are enemies. He has to convince everyone that this relationship is real. Including himself.

The military/government conspiracy angle was just plain fun. (Yes, it did remind me of the X-Files, and more than one shifter series, but it was well done in Moonlight, just the right touch of impersonal, bureaucratic evil). Someone is playing with shifter genetics, and they’re not benign. They never are. I think this is going to be the big arc. But if we see Cigarette-Smoking Man I’m going to laugh myself silly.

4-Stars

I give Moonlight by Lisa Kessler four claw-tipped stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Can’t Help Falling In Love by Bella Andre + Giveaway

Posted on August 8, 2013August 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: paperback provided by BookTrib
Formats available: ebook, paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: The Sullivans, #3
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Originally self-published; expanded edition published by Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: December 9, 2011 (original edition); July 30, 2013 (expanded edition)
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

How much is worth risking?

Gabe Sullivan risks his life every day as a firefighter in San Francisco, but he knows better than to risk giving his heart again. Especially not to the woman he saved from a deadly apartment fire…and can’t stop thinking about.

Megan Harris owes everything to the heroic firefighter who saved her and her daughter. Everything except her heart. Because after losing her pilot husband, she has vowed to never suffer through loving—and losing—a man with a dangerous job again.

But when Gabe and Megan meet again, how can he possibly ignore her courage, determination and beauty? And how can she deny not only his strong bond with her daughter…but also his sweetly sensual kisses, challenging her to risk everything she’s been guarding for so long?

My Review:

What makes someone a risk-taker? An adrenaline junkie? A thrill-seeker? What makes another play it safe?

Can you change your fundamental nature from one to the other? Can you make someone else change theirs?

Those are the questions at the heart of Bella Andre’s contemporary romance, Can’t Help Falling In Love, the third book in her Sullivans series. As the title says, Megan Harris and Gabe Sullivan can’t seem to keep from falling in love with one another from the moment they meet.

But it’s not that simple, or we wouldn’t have this marvelous story to read.

Gabe Sullivan is a San Francisco firefighter. He risks his life every time he goes out on a fire call. The story begins when he is called out from his brother Marcus’ engagement party at the end of From This Moment On (reviewed here).

But Gabe is not necessarily an adrenaline junkie. He does his job the safest way he possibly can. His goal in fighting the fire is to save people’s lives.

On that fateful fire call, the lives he saves are those of Megan Harris and her little girl Summer. He admires Megan’s bravery, because Megan’s actions kept Summer alive, not just until he could reach them, but kept him from having to carry two unconscious bodies out of a third floor walkup in an inferno–otherwise, they would have all died.

But no matter much he admires her courage, or how beautiful he believes her to be, he has one ironclad rule–he never becomes involved with fire victims. The expectations have proven to be too high.

Summer wants to thank the firefighter who saved their lives. When Megan takes her to the hospital to visit the injured man, she discovers that he is attractive, adores her daughter, and seems to detest her.

It shouldn’t matter to her. Megan has sworn off any man who chases danger for a living. Any man who might be like the fighter pilot husband who died and left her with a two-year-old to raise alone.

But little Summer is determined to keep on seeing the man who saved them. She’s way smarter than both of the adults in her life. She also knows that rules are made to be broken.

Summer is the biggest risk-taker of them all. It’s lucky for everyone that she’s absolutely right!

Escape Rating B+: One of the things I like about Andre’s Sullivans series is the way that each story starts smoothly from the previously one and leads equally smoothly into the next one. They’re not cliffhangers, it’s feeling that they really are a family and that their stories intertwine.

Although the Sullivans stories I have read so far rely on the insta-love concept, Can’t Help Falling In Love makes it work. Gabe and Megan meet under just the kind of circumstances guaranteed to make two people feel an instant connection–Gabe holds Megan’s life in his hands. They almost die together. The heightened emotions demand a heightened response.

But the reasons they resist any involvement make equal sense. Gabe’s previous attempt at a relationship with a fire victim ended in utter disaster, and Megan’s husband left her a widow because he loved danger more than his family. Megan’s response has been to play the rest of her life “safe”, and to suppress her own need for a little adrenaline in her life.

Megan is an amazing parent. Even though fear has controlled her own life, she has been vigilant about not letting that fear rule Summer’s life. Summer is fearless. Summer is a very well-drawn character in her own right, and not just a prop to match-make the two adults. Summer schemes and connives to get her way, but she’s indulged rather than spoiled. I’m glad that she gets a HEA out of this story too, to be part of a big family.

The next story should be even more fun than this one. The heroine of I Only Have Eyes for You is a librarian!

GIVEAWAY

Bella is giving away one paperback copy of Can’t Help Falling in Love to one lucky winner (US only)! To enter, use the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Mist by Susan Krinard + Giveaway

Posted on August 7, 2013August 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Urban fantasy
Series: Midgard, #1
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Released: July 16, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Mist lives a normal life. She has a normal job, a normal boyfriend, and a normal apartment in San Francisco. She never thinks about her past if she can help it.

She survived. That’s the end of it.

But then a snowy winter descends upon San Francisco. In June. And in quick succession, Mist is attacked by a frost giant in a public park and runs into an elf disguised as a homeless person on the streets…and then the man Mist believed was her mortal boyfriend reveals himself to be the trickster god, Loki, alive and well after all these years.

Mist’s normal world is falling apart. But thankfully, Mist isn’t quite so normal herself. She’s a Valkyrie, and she’s going to need all her skill to thwart Loki’s schemes and save modern Earth from the ravages of a battle of the gods.

At the publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

My Review:

Mist is the kind of urban fantasy where magical beings cross over from a world or dimension where magic works into our much more mundane world where magic either doesn’t work or people don’t believe in it anymore.

The fascinating thing about this particular tale is that the story it’s part of is both very old and very new, because Krinard has chosen to work her story into the Norse sagas and bring the Norse pantheon back to play in the 21st century world.

We may not believe in them, but they believe in us. They might be back because it’s finally time for Ragnarök, the Last Battle. Or it might just be another round in a neverending game of “can you top this” between Loki and Freya, with Earth as the prize. We don’t actually know.

What we do know is that centuries ago, Odin sent chosen Valkyries to Earth with his Treasures, great weapons and defenses. Mist Bjorgsen was one of those Valkyries. She believed it was the Last Battle. All the signs pointed to it. But paradise did not follow.

And now, winter has come to San Francisco. In June. (San Francisco summers are infamously cold, but not THAT cold). Mist discovers that the man she thought was her human lover has been deceiving her for months. Oh, it’s not that he’s cheating on her. It’s that he’s actually Loki, and he’s just stolen Odin’s spear, the treasure she’s protected for centuries.

Right after his frost-giant allies pulverized the elf who came to tell her to get ready for the invasion.

It looks like the gods are back are back in town.

Escape Rating B: Mist is the first book in Krinard’s Midgard series, and there’s no question there’s a ton of setup necessary to get this show on the road.

But if you like mythology-based fantasy, or crossover fantasy (sometimes called portal fantasy) this is a very interesting setup. We’re much more used to seeing the Greco-Roman pantheon than the Norse, so the author is able to change up some of the backstory. The names are familiar without being weighted by a ton of expectation. Especially since, based on Wikipedia, the extant Norse sagas disagree more than a bit on who did what to whom.

Mist the person (and I wish her name was more of a name than just Mist) is the center of the story. It’s her journey. She starts as being just one of the girls, just one of the Valkyrie, and discovers that she bears the weight of expectations. She the daughter of a goddess. She’s supposed to lead the fight against Loki. She has the power to literally draw followers to her like a beacon.

She’d rather be just one of the soldiers, and she knows she can’t be. Of course, she does not know what her fate is supposed to be.

Because Mist is urban fantasy, although it contains the potential for a romance in the future, but there is not one in the here and now. We have a tortured man (actually elf) who must work through his own demons (some of which literally are demons) and the times he has betrayed people who trust him (and will continue to betray people who trust him) before he might think himself worthy of being loved.

And then there’s Mist’s power, which may make it impossible for her to believe that anyone loves her for herself. We’ll get there in a later book.

About the war between the gods: Loki and Freya seem to be using Earth, the same way the Great Powers used Central Asia before World War I, as a way to test their powers and pit their followers against each other in preliminary skirmishes prior to all-out warfare.

Also, although Loki seems to be evil, Freya doesn’t exactly seem to be good. It reminds me much more of the situation in Babylon 5, where the true fight turned out to be between Order and Chaos, but both sides had their own agenda. Chaos may have meant unbridled chaos, a situation that evildoers often took full advantage of, but Order meant rigid and unyielding order, with no growth, development or experimentation permitted.

I hope that by the time this series has ended, we’ll find out what Loki’s and Freya’s true agendas really are. In this book, we see them jockeying for power, and the gathering of allies.

The story that has begun is worth following.

GIVEAWAY

Susan is giving away one print copy of Mist to one lucky winner (US only)! To enter, use the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis

Posted on August 6, 2013July 28, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: print book borrowed from the Library
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, paperback, audiobook
Genre: Historical mystery
Series: A Flavia Albia Mystery, #1
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Date Released: June 11, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina. From her mother, she learned how to blend in at all levels of society; from her father, she learned the tricks of their mutual professional trade. But her wits and (frequently) sharp tongue are hers alone.

Now, working as a private informer in Rome during the reign of Domitian, Flavia has taken over her father’s old ramshackle digs at Fountain Court in the Surbura district, where she plies her trade with energy, determination, and the usual Falco luck. Recently hired to help investigate a fatal accident, she finds herself stuck with a truly awful person for a client and facing a well-heeled, well-connected opponent.

That is, until her client unexpectedly dies under what might be called “suspicious circumstances.” While this is not a huge loss for society, it is a loss for Flavia Albia’s pocket. Even worse, it’s just one of a series of similar deaths for which she now finds herself under suspicion. Before things go from abysmal to worse, Flavia must sort out what is happening, and who is responsible.

My Review:

The Ides of April reminds me of the best and worst of the Marcus Didius Falco stories. The reader does have to like the narrator’s voice (in this case Falco’s adopted daughter, Flavia Albia). It takes forever to get both the story and the mystery set up and finally running. Both that story and that mystery are immersed in the daily life of Imperial Rome, which in detail tends to be surprisingly like modern life.

And there is that element of the bear dancing: you’re not surprised it’s done well, you’re surprised it’s done at all. By “it” I mean the concept of a hard-boiled detective series set in Imperial Rome circa 69-79 AD in the case of the Falco series. Or in Flavia Albia’s case, sometime after 81 AD, and Flavia seems to be slightly less hard-boiled, not to mention female.

On the other hand, unlike her father, Flavia seems to have been raised to the business from the point where the Falcos adopted her. She has an outsider’s perspective on Rome and its citizens, and she feels the need to be independent and productive.

While Flavia (and Falco’s) occupation as an informer or inquiry agent may seem anachronistic, Flavia’s employment in particular doesn’t seem that way. Women in this time period had more independence than in many later periods until our own.

The case itself is interesting because it’s based on a snippet of real history. There was a mysterious “needle-poisoner” who apparently was never caught. So Flavia Albia’s introduction is one potential scenario.

But what we see is Flavia making her way. We do not see her formidable parents, and that’s probably a good thing. They remain supportively in the background, as they should. This is her story. Flavia is standing on her own two feet, even when they sometimes lead her astray.

There is definitely a part of this case where she is very much led astray. But she gets herself back on track before the end.

And, like so many of the stories starring her parents, once she gets back on track, the adventure (and misadventure) whips up to a page-turning pace before all the loose ends are tied up.

Escape Rating B: Flavia Albia’s story is one that rewards an initial investment of time and tracking of all the dramatis personae. Flavia has a large adopted family, and there are a number of friends and frenemies who are tracking her, not just because of her own cases, but as leftovers from her parents’ salad days. Keeping everyone straight takes a bit of doing.

This is a classic mystery in the sense that all the clues are laid out for the reader, but it is necessary to piece them together. I figured out who probably “done it” but not the motives for quite a while.

A big part of what makes this story interesting is Flavia Albia herself. Her point of view may seem, or may be, a bit 21st century, but it is in keeping with her mother’s perspective. Also, Flavia Albia is an outsider who has the veneer of an insider. It makes her a good investigator. She’s also an interesting woman because she is independent.

She makes mistakes, and then sees them and grows from them.

One thing I wonder about for the future. She forges an interesting working relationship with the runner, who of course, is more than he first appears. It reminds me a lot of the early days of Falco’s relationship with Helena Justina. I wonder…

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Guest Post from Author Lindsey Piper on “So… Paranormal Romance?” + Giveaway

Posted on August 5, 2013August 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | blog tours> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today I’d like to welcome Lindsey Piper, who recently came out with the second book in her absolutely compelling dark, gritty paranormal romance Dragon Kings series, Blood Warrior (read my review here). Lindsay is here to talk about about:

So… Paranormal Romance? by Lindsey Piper

One of the most exciting things about promoting Blood Warrior is that since my real name has been revealed, I can talk about how different (and similar) it is to write various romance genres. See, I’m actually historical romance author Carrie Lofty, as well as one half of the erotica co-writing partnership known as Katie Porter!
It’s a juggling act! But then again, I’ve always loved circuses.

The idea of taking a new pseudonym was because the Dragon Kings was my paranormal romance debut. We certainly didn’t want fans of my lush, sensual historicals or my kinky, boundary-pushing erotic romances to pick up the series opener, Caged Warrior, and wonder what the heck they’d bought!

Genre expectations in romance are strong. The extremes are obvious examples: erotica will contain a sexual arc, while inspirationals will contain various themes about God and the characters’ relationships to God. Taking a new name was a way to make sure I was completely free of preconceptions as I wrote, and as new fans found the series.

The experience was fantastic.

I have a graduate degree in history, so when writing historical romance, I was always able—in fact, obligated—to be as accurate as possible. The trick when starting the Dragon Kings was worldbuilding. “What do you mean there’s no history book for me to read??” My editor made me go read Kresley Cole and watch Game of Thrones to help improve what I’d already done for years in historicals, which was build a framework for a romance, but to do so on a completely fictitious level.

(Now I’m a massive fan of both. And I learned tons!)

A turning point came when I realized how little I actually knew about this place I’d invented. Where do they live? How long do they live? How do they interact with humans? What is their religious background and how do their powers work and what clans do they inhabit, etc, etc , etc…

I sat down at a Starbucks with my playlist of choice—I always have a new playlist for each book—and handwrote fifty pages of detail. I don’t think I’ve written that much by hand since I was in high school! By the end of that massive, amazing purge, I’d created my own history book, so to speak. The question changed from “What do you mean there’s no history book for me to read?” to “You mean I get to make everything up??” My excitement was off the charts.

From that point on, I was hooked. I love writing historicals. I love writing contemporaries. But Lindsey Piper wants to write about dragons, demons, cage fighting, really strong men and women, evil cartel leaders, and love that’s all the stronger for having been forced in a violent world. Enjoy! I know I did!

About Lindsey Piper
Lindsey Piper is the alter ego of award-winning historical and contemporary romance author Carrie Lofty. Her hotly anticipated Dragon Kings series is her first foray into paranormal fiction. She lives and writes in Chicago.You can find more info on Lindsey’s website, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads pages.

TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY

Lindsey is giving away a number of prizes on her blog tour:

Grand prize: $25.00 Gift card to Amazon, an ebook of Silent Warrior, and paperbacks of Caged Warrior and Blood Warrior.

Second place: Five winners will each get a paperback of Caged Warrior or Blood Warrior (winner’s choice) and swag!

Third place: Five winner will each get an ebook of Silent Warrior.

This is open internationally; to enter, use the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Blood Warrior by Lindsey Piper

Posted on August 5, 2013August 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Dragon Kings, #2
Length: 401 pages
Publisher: July 30, 2013
Date Released: Pocket Books
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

As a young man, sarcastic, violent Tallis Pendray believed the Dragon Kings’ survival depended on a prophecy delivered in dreams by a woman named “the Sun.” His role has been to complete inexplicable, even reprehensible tasks. First, by murdering a priest, he united his fragmented clan in their hatred of him. Dubbed “the Heretic,” Tallis fled his family’s Highland estate. Now disillusioned, he seeks revenge on the woman he holds responsible for two decades of exile.

Telepath Kavya Indranan is a charismatic, seductive cult leader born to a prominent family. However, she grew up terrorized by the ominous threat of her powerful, insane twin brother. On the run and hiding among the poor, she witnessed the destruction wrought by her clan’s centuries-old civil war. Maturity nurtures Kavya’s determination to end the cycle of bloodshed. Those who follow her call for peace have nicknamed her “the Sun.”

Bent on revenge, and without knowledge of Kavya’s noble intentions, Tallis kidnaps her on the eve of her groundbreaking announcement. The two watch in horror as her twin brutally smashes the tentative truce…and hunts the sister whose death would make him invincible.

Kavya is the Sun—revered, untouched, and bound by a lonely destiny that promises a deadly showdown against the last of her family. Tallis is the Heretic—despised and exiled because of actions that seem random, heartless, and contrary to the safety of the clans he protects. She’s not a goddess, and he’s not a natural born killer. A desperate trek from the Himalayan foothills to the Scottish Highlands reveals two secluded souls hidden by bloody reputations. Will their trust be strong enough to avert an all-out war that could destroy them, and their kind, forever?

My Review:

The worldbuilding of the Dragon Kings finally un-murks. On the other hand, the sheer dark, gritty gloom and doominess of Silent Warrior and Caged Warrior definitely dials down a couple of notches. As to which you prefer, the mileage certainly varies.

We’ve met the hero, Tallis of Pendray, in Caged Warrior. We discover that he not only wrapped up the action in that cage-match, he kicked it off by leading the Asters to Audrey’s house at the start of it all. (See my review for more details.)

Tallis was misled. He believed that the Asters only wanted to question Audrey. Why he let himself believe a criminal “family” would stop at civilized questions is beyond this reader. But the reason he allowed himself to be misled at all, that’s a whole other issue.

Tallis has been following the mental seduction of “The Sun” for 20 years. This female cult leader has promised him that she was leading their people towards reunification and peace, by having him murder key leaders blocking her path. Oh, and she promised him dream sex and a meeting with their totem Dragon god along the way.

But the kidnapping and torture of Audrey broke the spell she had over him, because she lied. Because the Asters murdered Audrey’s husband in cold blood. And because Audrey was his niece.

Tallis set out in search of the physical location of “The Sun” and the members of her cult, and found Kavye — an Indraman woman of the Dragon Kings, the real, true leader of the Sun cult, and not the woman who had driven him to execute Dragon Kings in her name. Instead, Kavye was the least powerful of an Indraman telepathic triplet, hiding from the mad brother who had murdered their sister and sought her life in order to merge her power with his.

That’s the curse of the Indraman clan.

Kavye’s brother found her disciples while Tallis was still figuring out the best way to disgrace her. Pashkah’s massacre of her followers ground any attempt at unification into the dust.

Tallis and Kavye ran from the madman. The irony that the Dragon’s gift to the Pendray is the berserker rage, and that the two of them are running from a Dragon King who has gone completely insane, is intended.

The Indraman are telepaths, and the only way that Tallis can fight off Kavye’s people is to give in to the insane side of his own nature. Losing his rationality is his best protection.

But Tallis still needs to think. If Kavye was not the woman who enthralled him, who is that temptress? Whose nefarious purpose has he been serving for 20 years? Whoever she is, she is not just his enemy, but the enemy of all the remaining Dragon Kings. She is especially the enemy of the woman he first wanted to disgrace, but now needs to protect at all costs, even against the beast that is part of his own nature.

Escape Rating B+: I liked Blood Warrior better than Caged Warrior because Kavye and Tallis start the story in positions of relative equality. They have different sets of powers, but Kavye doesn’t start out the story beaten down to nearly nothing, the way that Audrey/Nynn does in Caged Warrior. I also liked Silent Warrior (see review) a lot for the same reasons.

Kavye is a bit naive about a few of the facts of life, and I don’t mean because she starts the story as a virgin. I mean that she believes that unification will be a whole lot easier than it could possibly be under the circumstances. Us regular humans have more trouble than she thinks her people will have, and we don’t have some of the more interesting curses they do, like the divided power of the Indraman twins and triplets.

Also she’s never explored the rest of the world outside her native India. Tallis has traveled the world, unfortunately mostly on murder missions for her evil mental twin. But he’s still led a much less sheltered life than she has.

On the other hand, she has a belief that things can get better, for them as individuals, and for their people. He doesn’t believe in much of anything. She gives him redemption, and he gives her, not just the right, but also the ability, to be her authentic self and feel real feelings and have an actual real life.

The other part that I enjoyed was that the backstory of the world of the Dragon Kings finally began to be revealed. Hallelujah! I needed this to get clearer for the overall story arc to make sense, and it’s getting there. We even met the Dragon.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-4-13

Posted on August 4, 2013August 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Is it just me, or is summer slipping by amazingly fast? I just scheduled a blog tour for October 30! Who wants to think about Halloween when it’s still summer?

This is our first summer in Seattle, so we spent yesterday at one of Seattle’s summer traditions. This weekend is Seafair weekend. That’s Sea as in Seattle, not sea as in ocean. It is an air & water show, but the action is on Lake Washington, not the Pacific. It was loads of fun and we’ll probably do it again next year.

Blog Recap:

B Review: The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough
B Review: Silent Warrior by Lindsey Piper
B Review: Caged Warrior by Lindsey Piper
C+ Review: Troll-y Yours by Sheri Fredricks
B+ Review: Absolution by Susannah Sandlin
B+ Review: A Private Duel with Agent Gunn by Jillian Stone
Stacking the Shelves (53)

Coming Next Week:

Blood Warrior by Lindsey Piper (blog tour review)
Guest Post by Lindsey Piper + giveaway of Blood Warrior
The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis (review)
Mist by Susan Krinard (blog tour review + giveaway)
Can’t Help Falling in Love by Bella Andre (blog tour review + giveaway)
Omega by Susannah Sandlin (review)

What’s happening in your week?

Stacking the Shelves (53)

Posted on August 3, 2013August 2, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

I have a short stack this week (ooh, yum, sounds like pancakes!) but there’s one book on here that I couldn’t resist pre-ordering. Can you guess what it is?

Heart Mate by Robin D. Owens new cover — New Cover

Heart Mate by Robin D. Owens original cover — Original cheesy cover

It’s Heart Fortune by Robin D. Owens. There’s something about her Celta series that just pulls me in, every time. Well, not quite every time. I don’t think that the first book in the series, Heart Mate, actually grabbed me the first time I read it. And the original cover was pretty cheesy. But I picked it up a second time, and discovered the recommenders were right. If you love futuristic romance, Celta is a world worth visiting. Especially if you like telepathic animal companions. I want a fam companion animal of my own. I bet you will too.

For Review:
The Bridge by Rebecca Rogers Maher
Covet by Tracy Garvis-Graves
Die On Your Feet by S.G. Wong
Medium Rare (Ramos Family #2) by Meg Benjamin
Moonlight (Moon #1) by Lisa Kessler

Purchased:
Carved in Stone (Art of Love #1) by Donna McDonald
Heart Fortune (Celta’s Heartmates #12) by Robin D. Owens
Rise (Lantern City #1) by Matthew James Daley

Borrowed from the Library:
Crystal Gardens (Ladies of Lantern Street #1) by Amanda Quick

Review: A Private Duel with Agent Gunn by Jillian Stone

Posted on August 2, 2013July 28, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback
Genre: Historical romance
Series: The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard #3
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date Released: November 27, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Cunning, reclusive Yard man Phineas Gunn is as skilled at capturing surly criminals as he is at charming beautiful women. But the dashing agent’s latest assignment is really testing his mettle. Officially, he’s investigating beguiling prima ballerina Catriona de Dovia Willoughby, a suspected anarchist. Unofficially, his attraction to his devilish former flame is hotter than ever.

Unsure whether to trust the enigmatic lover who betrayed her once, Cate nevertheless enlists Finn’s help to recover some priceless family jewels. Their pursuit erupts into a cross-continental adventure that begins with a double cross and crackles with secrets, lies, and sexual tension. The crime is clear—breaking and entering each other’s hearts—but as the clock ticks down, who will be the first to surrender?

My Review:

There are two private duels with Agent Gunn in this story. Come to think of it, there are two Agent Gunns in this story, but that’s part of what makes it so delicious.

The senior Agent Gunn, and the older brother Agent Gunn, is Phineas Gunn. Readers have already become intrigued by his story in the previous books in this series, particularly in A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis (reviewed here). Phineas relates the entire sad story of how he lost his first love in a mess of operational lies (he also managed to get her brother killed) while on duty with Special Branch in France.

Since this is a second-chance-at-love story, that tragic first love returns to the scene. She might not have forgiven him for getting her brother killed, but the same operation that threw them into each other’s paths before has brought them together again.

Catherine Willoughby’s late brother Eduoardo was a Spanish anarchist, and his former associates are causing trouble in England and on the continent. The question that Special Branch needs Phineas Gunn to answer is whether Catherine Willoughby, or her more famous identity as the prima ballerina Catriona de Dovia, is somehow involved with the anarchists.

Cate needs Finn to help her rescue her brother from prison in France, without letting him know that he’s rescuing her brother from prison. Cate’s not certain that the information she’s been given about her brother’s whereabouts among the living are true, and she’s certainly not sure she can trust Finn.

After all, he lied to her about pretty much everything when they met. And he broke her heart. Not that she’ll ever let him know about that. She’s never forgotten him, and she’s never moved on.

He hasn’t either. While meeting her may have been an assignment, everything that happened between them was all too real. And once they are forced together again for the sake of this mission, it all happens again.

Is it real this time, or is someone being played?

Escape Rating B+: There are two duels. Cate and Finn are dueling with each other through the course of the story, trying to figure out what parts of what they tell each other are real, and which parts are pure invention. Neither of them is ever quite sure which is which until the very end. The emotions are real, but because their entire relationship is built on one fabrication after another, they find it difficult to trust each other, and with damn good reason.

The tension, not just sexual tension, but the pull of the adventure and the constant need to figure out which way to jump, never lets up.

Finn Gunn’s younger brother Hardy also wants to become an agent, and he’s gotten himself into a bit of a mess. Hardy does get into an actual duel, which Finn stops by means of some very fancy sharp-shooting. So there is a real duel in the middle of the story. (Hardy will get his own story later.)

There are a lot of very fanciful characters in this one, in addition to the Agents. It reads like a wild Victorian adventure tale, King Solomon’s Mines, or something larger than life. This series gets more fun as it goes, and I can’t wait for the next one.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

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So… Paranormal Romance? by Lindsey Piper

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