Sunday, April 30, 2017

Cold Reign (Jane Yellowrock #11) by Faith Hunter


Welcome to the Cold Reign Blog Tour!  Great to see you here!

We're here to celebrate the release of another AWESOME installment in the story of Jane Yellowrock!

About COLD REIGN:
Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker…and the woman rogue vampires fear most.
 
Jane walks softly and carries a big stake to keep the peace in New Orleans, all part of her job as official Enforcer to Leo Pellissier, Master of the City. But Leo’s reign is being threatened by a visit from a delegation of ancient European vampires seeking to expand their dominions.
 
And there’s another danger to the city. When she hears reports of revenant vampires, loose in NOLA and out for blood, Jane goes to put them down—and discovers there’s something unusual about these revenants. They never should have risen.
 
Jane must test her strength against a deadly, unnatural magic beyond human understanding, and a ruthless cadre of near-immortals whose thirst for power knows no bounds…
I have a character profile to share with you today...
Adrianna
 
Gregoire’s secondo heir, Adrianna quickly became Jane’s enemy. Jane staked her, but Leo brought her back - several times. Adrianna often was sometimes acting master of Clan Arceneau, one of the most powerful clans in the U.S. 
She started out with two blood-servants, Sina and Brigit. She also had scions, Barb, Lanah, Hope and Lorraine and Cieran. She had turned the last two, they were her children. The vamps are now all true dead. 

Adrianna had been part of the Damours’ black magic rituals. She had picked up a few magical things, like amulets that made humans willing conspirators in crimes.

She has red hair, curly and wild, that fans out around her, blue eyes that are not quite sane.

She has a golden torque etched with Celtic symbols that rest on her collarbones and two gold cuffs shaped like snakes that climb her arm. Loves sexy expensive clothes.

Leo declares Adrianna outlaw but won’t let Jane behead her. She was a lover to the Son of Darkness, Joses Santana who later stabs her in the temple with a silver spike—which she also survives. 

Will Jane ever be able to behead her?

**Compiled by Melissa M. Gilbert of Clicking Keys, for the Character History of the Jane Yellowrock world**


PURCHASE LINKS
Publisher: Roc
Price: $7.99
Release date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1101991404
MY REVIEW

The action just doesn't STOP!

Jane and her ever-increasing circle of family must circumvent the centuries-in-the-planning coup being attempted by the EVs in order to save her loved ones and keep their way of life. During the process Jane's inherent magics and her acquired ones cause her many issues... and may just be what save the day.

Things to love about this installment of Jane's story:
- the puns: Starting with the title...
- the action: It's fast, almost constant, and bloody.
- the verbiage: Faith's writing is descriptive, imaginative, and engaging... and STILL manages to use "big words"! ;)
- the characters: They are well-developed, charismatic, and intriguing. Sometimes Faith even makes you route for the bad guys... but not often.

Things to hate about this book:
- ummmmmm... that I finished it? lol

This series is definitely not for underage or immature audiences, but for those of us who enjoy strong female protagonists who become more complex as the series progresses and use sarcasm like a dollop of whipped cream (on top of her tea), Jane RAWKS!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley Publishing as part of a book blog tour in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts/comments are my own.** 
About Faith Hunter:
New York Times Bestselling author Faith Hunter writes three series: the Jane Yellowrock series, dark urban fantasy novels featuring Jane, a Cherokee Skinwalker; the Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy / post apocalyptic series and role playing game featuring Thorn St. Croix; and the Soulwood Series featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram.

Visit Faith online at www.faithhunter.net, or follow her on FacebookTwitter, and Goodreads.

Giveaway!
There’s a tour-wide giveaway for copies of COLD REIGN and totes featuring Beast! Open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Snared by Jennifer Estep



About SNARED:
If you don’t know Gin “the Spider” Blanco, you don’t know dangerous female heroines.

Irony 101—The Spider herself snared in someone else’s web…

Another week, another few clues trickling in about the Circle, the mysterious group that supposedly runs the city’s underworld. Gathering intel on my hidden enemies is a painstaking process, but a more immediate mystery has popped up on my radar: a missing girl.

My search for the girl begins on the mean streets of Ashland, but with all the killers and crooks in this city, I’m not holding out much hope that she’s still alive.

A series of clues leads me down an increasingly dark, dangerous path, and I realize that the missing girl is really just the first thread in this web of evil. As an assassin, I’m used to facing down the worst of the worst, but nothing prepares me for this new, terrifying enemy—one who strikes from the shadows and is determined to make me the next victim.


My Review:
Like her namesake - Gin just keeps getting better with age!

As an dual elemental, Gin can control not just one, but two elements - stone and ice. This ability has helped her survive many a misadventure as well as her career as a top-notch assassin in the deadly city of Ashland. She's gone from working for her mentor Fletcher to working for herself to becoming the mob boss for the city due to having killed the previous 2 bosses. Retired - and now trying to take down the circle - Gin gets pulled into a manhunt for a serial killer... like Ashland didn't have enough troubles they can now add a serial killer to the list.

Her circle of friends has also grown from 3 or 4 trusted individuals to more like 10 close friends; several other good acquaintances; and several business frenemies - who would love to have her gone almost as much as they need her near. It takes cooperation from all of her friends - and maybe some of those frenemies to not only unravel the mystery of the crimes being committed, but to also survive her latest endeavor. Solving this crime will save lives and solve several cold cases Bria has been trying to close.

**I received a complimentary e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.** 
Excerpt:

Since it was January, the holidays were officially over, but someone was being a little slow about putting away the decorations. White twinkle lights were still wrapped around the thick columns that supported the sprawling, two-story, gray stone mansion, along with strands of illuminated snowflakes that glowed a pale blue. Still more lights and snowflakes curved over the stone archways and outlined all of the windows, which also had white velvet bows hanging in them.

But this was a New Year, with new targets for the Spider.

I crossed the lawn and hunkered down behind some lounge chairs set up on the patio that ringed the heated pool, as far away from the cheery glow of the holiday lights as I could get. Then I peered around the chairs and over at the mansion.

Despite it creeping up on eight o’clock, lights burned in every room on the first floor, and I spotted several servants moving back and forth, tidying up and doing their final chores for the night. In the windows closest to me, two women plucked red and green glass balls off a massive Christmas tree that took up most of that room.

I watched the women work for a few seconds longer, as well as all the other servants, but no one moved toward the windows and looked outside. No one had seen me approach the mansion, so I raised my gaze to a particular window on the second floor. Lights burned in that room as well, but I didn’t spot anyone moving around inside. Excellent.

I glanced over my shoulder, but the guard was at the very back of the lawn now, several hundred feet from me, and still playing his game, judging by the faint beeps and trills that whispered into the night. I wouldn’t get a better chance than this, so I slid my knife up my sleeve so that I would have both hands free. Then I surged to my feet, got a running start, leaped up, and grabbed hold of a trellis attached to part of the mansion.




Purchase links:
Publisher: Pocket Books
Price: $7.99
Release date: April 25, 2017
ISBN: 9781501142277


About Jennifer Estep:
Jennifer Estep is a New York TimesUSA Today, and international bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Snared, book #16, will be released on April 25.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. She is also the author of the Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit www.jenniferestep.com or follow Jennifer on FacebookGoodreads, and Twitter.

Giveaway!
There’s a tour-wide giveaway for copies of SNARED and a $20 Amazon gift card! Open to US residents only.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Hisses and Honey (The Venom Trilogy, #3) by Shannon Mayer

Hisses and Honey (The Venom Trilogy, #3)Hisses and Honey by Shannon Mayer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! Alena just keeps getting stronger and sassier!

I love Shannon's ability to draw you into the story and make you a part of it. You can't help but root for Alena with her insecurities and burgeoning strength which sometimes seem so at odds with each other. This final part of the trilogy is a true coming-of-age story for our heroine.

Having beaten two of Hera's heroes she now must face a third WITH a monster... and a raging increase in the Aegrus virus to boot. Can she - and her friends and family - triumph over Hera, or will all be lost?

With the ending of this story I can't wait to read a spin-off series which is so strongly hinted at! ;)

**I received a complimentary e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

View all my reviews

Purchase Links: 

Amazon - US

B&N - paperback