Emily Martha Sorensen writes some fabulous clean fantasy and I have been loving every minute of my time with her. One of my favorites is the baby dragon, Virgil, in the Dragon’s Egg series.
I love this sweet cover and the ‘human’ romance is just as sweet.
With each novella in the Dragon’s Egg series, we learn more about the pitfalls and perils, along with the job, of raising a baby dragon.
Rose reminds me of Temperance Brennan in Bones and I feel bad for Henry at times. He has such a soft soul and is easily hurt, innocent and naive about many things.
Try to imagine potty training a dragon, especially when it doesn’t want to be trained. LOL
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
There’s a new dragon
visiting from Chicago, and she’s green, like Virgil! Unfortunately, this
might cause a few small problems nobody anticipated.
As well as a few revelations and surprises.
And all while Rose is trying to figure out what to give her husband for Valentine’s Day.
ABOUT EMILY MARTHA SORENSEN
Emily is a prolific writer with many titles to choose from. She writes of fairies, dragons, fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, world peace in short stories and flash fiction.
Flawed characters, teenagers, kidnapping, murder, serial killer, life and death, cancer.
I loved the characters, searching for answers, struggling with life.
Glad Dark is in the title, because it’s not only the villain that hides in the dark.
I am so happy this is a series because I want a whole lot more of it.
Elsa, her new partner and friend, Lex…and his brother, David. she doesn’t have much of a personal life, doesn’t strive to have one, discourages those who try to get close, until Lex who manages to earn her trust.
Deep, dark secrets.
So glad I have the next story ready and waiting…and I will begin NOW.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis.
4 stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A girl, missing A woman, searching A killer, planning…
FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people. She knows how it feels to be lost…
Though
her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, Elsa cannot
refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing from Forest
Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series
of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.
With
each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man
who may have been killing for years, the case starts to get underneath
Elsa’s skin. Everything she has buried – her fraught relationship with
her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother’s death –
threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.
In order to save the missing girl, she may have to lose herself…and return to the darkness she’s been hiding from for years.
ABOUT KAREN ELLIS
Karen Ellis is a pseudonym of longtime crime
novelist Katia Lief. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and
International Thriller Writers. Her novel A MAP OF THE DARK will be
published by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown on January 9, 2018. Learn more at karenellisbooks.com
Stay in touch with Karen Ellis by joining her mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cS6h_r
Catchy title for Sketcher in the Rye by Sharon Pape and I do love the cover. I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read and review Sketcher in the Rye by Sharon Pape. I downloaded this back on 11.7.13
Sketcher in the Rye and Sharon Pape had me cracking up from the getgo. I don’t know what I expected, but it’s delivering so much more.
Rory is quite the character, but Zeke steals the show. They do make quite the investigating team.
We switch back and forth from the present to the past as we examine Zeke’s life. A heartbroken hobo has a large personality and is good for lots of laughs.
Fun story, humorously written, with fabulous quirky characters to love.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Sketcher in the Rye by Sharon Pape.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In her new job as a
private eye, former police sketch artist Rory McCain has a spirited
partner: Old West marshal Zeke Drummond. He may be a ghost, but when
these two combine their skills, they reap justice…
Trouble has
sprouted at Harper Farms. Top secret info has been leaked to the
competition, and now there’s serious sabotage cropping up. So the farm’s
beleaguered owner, Gil Harper, has called on Rory to dig up some dirt.
But what Rory discovers raises a new field of questions…
Someone
shucked Harper’s accountant and left his body in the farm’s corn maze.
While Gil is quick to hire Rory to solve now not one but two crimes, the
sketching sleuth isn’t so sure why the farmer wants her to focus her
attention on his own family.
Regardless, Rory and Zeke will need
to put their hands to the plow and solve this case before someone else
is planted six feet under…
Includes a preview of the first Crystal Shop Mystery, Amethysts and Alibis, by Sharon Pape
Alyssa Day writes some fantastic stories. After reading the first book in the series (see my review link below), Atlantis Rising, I had to have more…so here’s Atlantis Awakening.
Poseiden’s finest against vampires…I’d like to see that, but I’ll settle for reading about it.
Ven is second in line to the throne, but he doesn’t want it. He is happy being head of the Warrior Academy.
Erin Connor is a witch and knew she was in trouble when she came face to face with Ven. I think we all know where this is going, but I am looking forward to a slip sliding ride to Atlantis.
Ven quickly knew he would stop at nothing to protect her from those who pursue her.
The romance is otherwordly instalove, easy for me to accept in a novel where it is to be expected…which I will leave to you to find out why.
Atlantean, Elven, Vampires, Shapshifters, Witches…you never know who your friends are.
The world and characters are familiar, at least some of them, and I love learning more about them. Danger is always near and that creates suspense and curiosity for me.
Though the storyline is familiar and easy to figure out, I do like surprised lovers, magical love and battles between good and evil.
The romance is steamy and for adults only.
Even though Atlantis Awakening tells Ven and Erin’s story, it leaves us in a pickle with the overall storyline. I recommend reading in order to get the full impact.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Atlantis Awakening by Alyssa Day.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
To rescue the world
from an overwhelming evil, Poseidon’s warriors have risen from Atlantis.
Chief among them is Ven, serving as the King’s Vengeance by birthright
and by battle challenge. None can conquer him – except perhaps for one
human female….
The Warrior… Ven’s mind is
filled with duty. He must serve as Atlantean liaison to the humans in a
war waged against the vampires. A sword is his weapon – not diplomacy.
But on a mission to recover the Nereid’s heart – a ruby of immense power
– it will take every ounce of strength he possesses to resist the
sexual allure of the beautiful witch chosen to work with him.
And the Witch… Erin’s
heart is filled with vengeance. She lives only for the chance at
revenge against those who murdered her family. Now she must partner with
a legendary Atlantean warrior whose dark desire threatens to crash
through the barriers built around her emotions – and her heart. Caught
in the trap of shifting alliances, how long can Ven and Erin resist
their awakening passion?
Dark forces beware: Atlantis is awakening.
ABOUT ALYSSA DAY
Alyssa Day is the pen name (and dark and tortured alter ego) of
RITA award-winning author Alesia Holliday. She is a multiple finalist in
the prestigious RITA awards for excellence in romance fiction and has
won several awards for her novels.
ATLANTIS RISING was the first
of Alyssa’s Warriors of Poseidon novels for Berkley Publishing, and was
featured on the cover of the March, 2007, issue of Romantic Times
BOOKClub magazine! Additionally, it rocked the bestseller lists, hitting
the Waldenbooks, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Bookscan, and the
prestigious USA Today bestseller lists! ATLANTIS AWAKENING came along
several months together and did the same thing – only better!! And then
her anthology SHIFTER, with authors Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, and
Virginia Kantra, spent three weeks on the prestigious New York Times
bestseller list!
Her publisher was thrilled, her family was
thrilled (they could eat!), her dogs were thrilled (bacon!!). Now she’s
happily writing her fingers off, deep in the world of Atlantis, the
Warriors of Poseidon, and a new exciting group of allies (??), the Fae.
Alyssa
has long been an avid fan of all things Atlantis, supernatural, and in
any way pertaining to lost civilizations. When she was six, she told her
mother that she would discover Atlantis one day—and now she has!
In
2006, Alyssa (writing as Alesia) was awarded the Romance Writers of
America’s RITA® award. The RITA is the highest award of excellence in
the genre of romance fiction. If we can get this new website on track,
you’ll see a picture on your right of Alyssa with her agent and editor
the night she won the RITA® award.
Seals make for some intriging and action packed reading, so I was happy to get a copy of Seal Team Six: Hunt The Fox by Donn Mann & Ralph Pezullo from NetGalley and Mulholland Books. I downloaded Hunt The Fox on 4.6.15.
I wonder the same thing as Jared, wondering about our motivation for our interactions with other countries…is it all about what they have that benefits us? Crocker felt it best not to question it so he could do his job as leader of Black Cell.
Seal Team Six has all I expected from a Seal and his ‘friends.’ Action packed. Suspenseful. Makes me ponder the sacrifices and danger real soldiers face so we are free.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Seal Team Six: Hunt The Fox by Don Mann & Ralph Pezullo.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
In war-torn Syria, the heroes of the SEAL Team Six series defuse an ISIS warlord’s explosive plot.
After a meeting with a CIA source in Istanbul ends in tragedy, SEAL
Team Six Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Crocker vows revenge. He suspects
the men who attacked him and his contact are involved in the latest and
most harrowing scheme SEAL Team Six is charged with preventing, in a
region that grows more volatile by the day.
Syria’s government is unraveling, with the alliances among rebel
groups increasingly complex and ISIS dangerously in the mix. Farid
al-Kazaz, aka the Fox, leads the most threatening of the ISIS factions.
The Fox believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered the murder of
the Fox’s brother and is planning a sarin gas attack that would wreak
havoc across not just Syria, but the entire Middle East. It’s up to
Crocker and the rest of SEAL Team Six to stop a ruthless killer and keep
an explosive plan from detonating.
The SEAL Team Six series has been hailed by Special Forces veterans
and members of the intelligence community as a fascinating,
behind-closed-doors look at the real-life heroism of our country’s
bravest soldiers. Now, Mann and Pezzullo use their experience and
insight to tell the story of a terrifying plot ripped straight from the
headlines
D V Berkom writes of strong female characters, so when Absolution came in the mail, I was very excited to begin reading. Whether she expects a review or not, doesn’t matter. I want to share one of my favorite authors with you, so a review is always forthcoming.
I got lost in the writing as I am drawn in deeper…and I am not surprised with D V Berkom.
This badass character faces danger in every story and this antagonistic villain has a personal agenda that places Leine Basso in her sights.
Leine Basso will stop at nothing to protect those she loves, so she isolates herself as she hunts Salome, the one that got away in Dark Return.
Danger…intrigue…
Never a dull moment.
Who’s the mole? I figured wrong and D V Berkom is great at surprising me that way. The betrayal is well hidden and the red herrings kept me guessing.
And Jinn. I would love to read more about Jinn, a very special young girl.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Absolution by D V Berkom.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
There’s one sure way to stop a terrorist…
Leine Basso has severed ties with everyone she loves to keep them safe while she hunts for the ruthless terrorist, Salome. There are rumblings that the French-born assassin is planning another attack, and Leine’s determined to stop her before it’s too late.
Leine must follow her instincts despite a cunning and merciless enemy determined to lure her down a deadly path. Can Leine thwart her plans, or will Salome’s own twisted vengeance mean the end for Leine and everyone she loves?
From London to Edinburgh to the City of Angels, Salome’s making a comeback—and that comeback includes killing Leine.
ABOUT DV BERKOM
DV Berkom is a slave to the voices in her head. As the author of two popular thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones), her love of creating resilient, kick-*ss female characters stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, mysteries, and thrillers, and longing to find the female equivalent within those pages.
Raised in the Midwest, she received her
BA in political science from the University of Minnesota and promptly
moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. Many, many cross-country moves
(and several years) later, she now lives just outside of Seattle,
Washington with the love of her life, Mark, an ex-chef-turned
contractor, and writes every chance she gets.
For more information, please visit her website at www.dvberkom.com.
I have been reading Amanda Siegrist’s work for some time now, so to get a copy of Dark Consequences, which was published in March was wonderful. And we do have some hard choices that will need to made in this love story with a twist.
I love a story that grips me early and Dark Consequences by Amanda Siegrist does just that.
Abby was a secretary for a criminal defense attorney in Minnesota, but she knew how to take care of herself. She had moved there with her best friend, Brandon. She was happy with her life, but there was one thing missing, her brother, Cooper. He was a psychopath who murdered people without compunction.
A cop in love with a woman who’s brother killed his sister. NOW…he was going to hunt him down and exact his own revenge.
It had been love at first sight for him and Abby. How could they have a future? Abby was afraid that Tate was going to kill her brother, because he had killed his sister and her goal was to stop him. Who would find Cooper first?
WOW. The twists and turns in the many layered chilling mystery kept me ‘flipping pages’ to the very end. The characters are not all good or all bad, complex yet loyal to the end, willing to sacrifice whatever necessary to get the job done.
The romance was hot and heavy between Abby and Tate and I love the addition of Stromberg…the three Musketeers.
I love a story that keeps on giving and I see more of Consequences to be dealt with in my future.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dark Consequences by Amanda Siegrist.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Every choice has a consequence…
Detective
Tate Powell is consumed by two things—the woman who managed to capture
his heart with a single look and to catch the man that killed his
sister. When he finds out the man he’s been seeking, the man he will
kill with his bare hands, is none other than his girlfriend’s brother,
he knows his entire life is over. Because nothing will stop him from
seeking revenge, even if it means losing her.
Abby Forrester
never knew she could fall in love so easily, but Tate slipped under her
defenses without even blinking. She should’ve never confessed her
brother is the man that killed his sister. But now that she has, she’ll
do everything in her power to protect him from ruining his life—and from
killing her brother. Even if she has to do the unthinkable. Turn
against him.
ABOUT AMANDA SIEGRIST
Love!
Gimme some love and heaps of romance. I have a sappy heart that just
loves two people meeting, going through the cycles of a relationship,
and ultimately, falling in love. Give me a good book like that and I’m a
happy camper:)
I write contemporary and romantic suspense, but I am partial to suspense. I just love a good mystery.
Besides writing, I love baking, crafts, and baseball…oh, and meeting new people. *smiles*
It is the future, 2042, and he is a killer, a warrior for the angels in the upcoming battle between good and evil. He is a Nephilim, born from a human mother and an angel father, fighting on the side of the angels in the coming Great Struggle.
Technology…to the point where what you see is not always what you get. What looks all shiny and new can be a pile of junk.
Very interesting technological angle. I love a story that makes me question…Just because we can,, should we?
Then my conspiracy gene rises up…is there an ulterior motive?
Devil’s Dance is the second book in the in this thrilling Nephilim series. Jeff Altabef does a fantastic job of creating a world of possibilities and humanity’s ability to rise to the occasion. I love stories of battles between good and evil with otherworldly characters. They make me stretch my imagination and let the author take me away…into a fantasy world where everything is possible.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Devil’s Dance by Jeff Altabef.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
An amazing new technology engineered to make people smarter, a series of gruesome murders, and a mystery so dark, it threatens everyone.
I’m a Nephilim, born of a fallen angel father and a human mother. This makes me special in ways I don’t fully comprehend yet.
A
war is brewing between angels and demons, and like it or not, we’ll all
have to choose sides. I’ve chosen the side of angels, a curious
decision for me, not only because I’m a killer, but because I enjoy
killing. Still, an angel promised me that redemption is possible—even
for me—and he needed warriors on his side. Did he tell me the truth? I
hope so, but who can I trust?
In a small, sleepy, tourist town, an
old friend asks me to help solve a series of gruesome murders that have
been plaguing the town, but these aren’t just random crimes. Somehow,
they’re connected to this war between angels and demons. I prefer
working alone, not having to worry about others, but I team up with a
self-described anti-technology hooligan, and a beautiful bartender I
immediately fall for. If only they knew what I know. The foe we’re
facing is way more powerful than anything they can imagine.
I must solve the mystery before it’s too late, because I’m certain of this one thing: everyone’s soul is at stake.
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS an intriguing, thrilling look inside a great battle between good and evil, with the second book in the award-winning “A Nephilim Thriller” series. [DRM-Free]
ABOUT JEFF ALTABEF
Jeff
Altabef is an award-winning author who lives in New York with his wife,
two daughters, and Charlie the dog. He spends time volunteering at the
writing center in the local community college. After years of being
accused of “telling stories,” he thought he would make it official. He
writes in both the thriller and young adult genres. Fourteenth Colony, a
political thriller, was his debut novel. Evolved Publishing has
published Jeff’s second thriller, Shatter Point, which won the Pinnacle
Book Achievement Award for Fall 2014 in the category of Best
Thriller.Jeff’s first young adult novel, Wind Catcher: A Chosen Novel
will be published in March by Evolved Publishing. He’s extremely excited
that his daughter, Erynn Altabef, is his co-author on the Chosen
Series. As an avid Knicks fan, Jeff is prone to long periods of
melancholy during hoops season. Jeff has a column on The Examiner
focused on writing and a blog designed to encourage writing by those
that like telling stories.
This is not my first taste of Liesel K Hill’s work and it won’t be my last. If you are into dystopian worlds, serial killers and murder, Street Games may be for you.
I am excited to be back in Kyra’s dystopian world in Damaged Hope, Street Games #3, by Liesel K Hill. Kyra is the strong female character I love to read about.In is cheap.this desp0perate, dystopian world, life
Kyra’s not herself. She’s in BIG trouble. Some want her dead, some want to use her, and one wants to love her. She is stubborn, obstinate, confident in her ability to survive the Mire. Every time she turns around, she’s getting her ass kicked, covered in cuts and bruises. She can’t quit…she searches…
Gabe is a cop that has become enamored with Kyra.
Missing and dead children, prostitutes, one killer or two, a slow burning relationship, and fantastic world building.
Tense, dangerous, teeth gritting moments.
Nothing is smooth sailing. The characters will put it all on the line for each other. Not all will survive and not all questions will be answered. The pacing keeps the thrills coming, one after another some high, some low, and I want more. I must know the end of Kyra’s story.
“It’s all a game. Brothers and killers. Rivals and customers. The Mire and mobsters. Alleys and streets. All games. Games we must conquer, or else disappear into the gaping maw of this city.”
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Damaged Hope by Liesel K Hill.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
“Kyra [is] smart, resourceful, and gritty. She’s got steel in her spine. This is the woman I think we need to see more of in fiction.”-Rebecca A., The Missing Lynx
After surviving the horror of the Carmichael District, Kyra continues to look for her brother, but she can’t seem to avoid crossing paths with the Mire’s psychotic serial killer. Avoiding him and surviving the darkness of the Mire grows ever more difficult. And now he may be targeting her.
For Gabe, the mystery surrounding his brother’s disappearance twenty-five years ago deepens as the suspect in custody is questioned, but speaks in riddles. If Gabe can decipher Hammond’s strange clues, perhaps he can finally bring his brother’s body home and obtain some closure. That is, if he can stay one step ahead of the murders in the Mire.
Kyra and Gabe face new, darker challenges in their search for missing brothers. Every victory brings setbacks and complications. They have little to push them forward now except determination and hope. Even if it is a Damaged Hope.
If you love you some crime, murder mystery and suspense with detectives and serial killers thrown in, don’t miss the action-packed third installment of Street Games!
L.K.
Hill is a novelist who writes across three genres. Her crime and
historical fiction are written under her initials, L.K., while her
scifi/fantasy and dystopian are written under her full name, Liesel K.
Hill. She lives in northern Utah and comes from a large, tight-knit
family. She plans to keep writing until they nail her coffin shut. Or
the Second Coming happens. You know, whichever happens first. ;D
The end is near and when the final sentence was read, I was content with the ending of The Divine Space Pirates in The Price of Paradise by C S Johnson.
The clash of family and characters with strong personalities flare and the final battle of the war will be set in motion. I can guess at a lot of what is to come, but the most important thing has me stumped…how will they save Earth from themselves?
Hope. Man’s eternal optimism. Life will go on. And then I thought of a line from Jurassic Park, “Life will find a way,” says Jeff Goldblum. In reality, as in fiction, it reeks of truth.
Can your biggest enemy become your friend? Can hatred be overcome?
The national narrative had focused so much on surviving that it forgot about living. This is one of those stories that give rise to what ifs. So many realistic scenarios spun from our past history that carry a ring of truth, with plenty of fiction so things work out like I want them too.
All the characters grow and develop through each book and many become warm loving people who will stand strong with guns and fists to fight for their freedom. I loved the world created. It is books like The Divine Space Pirates that makes me wonder what the future holds for us. Ecologically, suffering the politicians, big business corruption, greed…I could go on, but you know what I’m talking about.
I am very satisfied with the ending.and love that C S Johnson included an epilogue. Puts the cherry on top.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Price of Paradise by C S Johnson
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Aerie and Exton are
still at war with the Revolutionary States, but there is much to
celebrate. Now that they are together again, Aerie finally has what
she’s always wanted: A loving home. But her past, and her parents, are
far from letting her move on with her new life. When Merra further
escalates the war with her treachery, Aerie is faced with an impossible
choice: Save her mother, or betray Exton.
Years after his
father’s murder, Exton finally has the killer at his mercy. But General
St. Cloud has a surprise for him—the truth about Silas’s death. While
Exton struggles with the ghosts of his past, his allies face dire
threats at Panama, where a battle has ensued over a shipment of weapons.
The stakes are raised even higher as the dictator of the fair world
himself, Grant Osgood, launches the GPI, his Global Planethood
Initiative, in hopes of finishing off the Perdition and demolishing the
defectors’ hopes for liberty.
With the fate of the planet on the line, Aerie and Exton know each of their decisions could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Can they pay the price that war—and true love—demands?
ABOUT C S JOHNSON
C.
S. Johnson is the author of several young adult novels, including
sci-fi and fantasy adventures such as the Starlight Chronicles series,
the Once Upon a Princess saga, and the Divine Space Pirates trilogy.
With a gift for sarcasm and an apologetic heart, she currently lives in
Atlanta with her family. Find out more at http://www.csjohnson.me.
