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Friday 29 November 2013

BINDING THE SHADOWS by Jenn Bennett


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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this series and couldn't wait to read the third book. But I'd been putting it off until I wrapped up my own UF series.

As soon as I got started, I was hooked!

Arcadia has plenty of good things in her life: her sexy boyfriend (Lon), his cheeky son (Jupe), her friend and business partner (Kar Yee). But there are other things that aren't so good: her tiki bar gets robbed and trashed, Earthbounds are getting juiced up and strengthening their powers, and she's about to meet Lon's ex-in-laws. Did I mention his ex-wife is also stopping by for Christmas? Yikes.

And her life just gets messier when you add some bizarre physical changes, her power getting all screwy, and her creepy mother making a comeback.

Wow. I loved every minute if this book. And after the bombshell it ends with, I can't wait to see what happens next...

Thursday 28 November 2013

UNDEAD CHAOS by Joshua Roots


Undead ChaosMy rating: 5 of 5 stars

I pre-ordered this book shortly after really enjoying the blurb. I mean, I couldn't resist this:
"The job was simple: decapitate the zombie, get paid, get out. Warlock Marcus Shifter followed the plan perfectly.

The corpse, however, did not."

 
Definitely sounded like something I would enjoy, and I was right! :)

Marcus Shifter is a warlock from an old, powerful family that packs quite a magical punch. However, when a simple job goes wrong and the zombie he was sure he'd killed wakes up and runs away, all hell breaks loose. Asking a necromancer and his daughter to help only makes things worse. Until hiding in the Underground becomes his best option.

I loved Marcus! He was such a crack up, and he has bees. There aren't enough beekeepers in UF. ;) He's a guy struggling to keep a haunting incident from his past from consuming him. A man who wants to protect his family, but also clear someone's name when they are wrongly accused. There are a lot of very cool characters in this book, and I found the world fascinating.

This book turned out to be a LOT of fun! Loved it.

View all my reviews

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Shiny New Cover!


Remember how I mentioned that the first two RECAST books were going to be released in one print volume? Well, here's the fantastic cover:
 
 
 Isn't it beautiful? I love how Kanaxa captured the mood of both stories and featured both Colt and Ace on the cover.
 
I LOVE it SO much!
 
RECAST, Volume 1 will be released from Samhain Publishing September, 2014.
 
What do you think?
 
 
 RECAST 
http://store.samhainpublishing.com/wither-p-4724.html http://store.samhainpublishing.com/clash-p-6617.html

 
Book 3 will be available in eBook format January, 2014:
 
http://store.samhainpublishing.com/shiver-p-73178.html


Monday 25 November 2013

I just validated my NaNoWriMo story!


Yay. So excited!
 
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/y
 
Not only does this mean that I've won NaNoWriMo for the seventh time, but that the first draft of RECAST #4 is written and ready to be revised.

Friday 22 November 2013

Editing = done!


Wow. I can't believe I'm actually posting twice this week. But I just finished TORN FROM THE SHADOWS R2 edits.

That's right! I started the week by completing my NaNoWriMo story, and am ending it by sending back second round edits. Yay.  :)

I'm so excited. Both of these things kept me super busy and I haven't had any time to read any other books, but it was worth it.
 
Phew.
 
Now I can enjoy the weekend.
 
Have a good one!

Monday 18 November 2013

NaNoWriMo 2013 = done!


Hey! You might have noticed that I was (yet again) MIA last week. But, like always, I have a reason. :P I was super busy adding words to my NaNoWriMo story.
 
Since I spent the first week of this month working on R1 edits for TORN FROM THE SHADOWS, I fell behind on writing. I mean, really behind. So behind that it took me a few days to actually catch up to the projected goals.

That's why last week I decided to push myself and write as much of the story as I could. I mean, it was crowded inside my head anyway, and was desperately trying to find its way out. The results were crazy. I ended up adding about 7-8k words every day last week, and even squeezed in a couple of thousand over the weekend. Like I said, insane! @_@

But also awesome.
 
I love it when I'm working on a first draft and the story comes so easily. Love. It.
 
By this morning, I had just over 2k left to meet the 50k mark. And that's exactly what I did! I've now reached the 50k NaNoWriMo target, and I loved every minute of my writing frenzy. :)

Here's the final word count: 50,168.

I'm very happy with how the story turned out, and had a blast getting to know Taylor and Walsh. They surprised me. A lot. And I look forward to returning to their story when it's time for revision. Actually, if I get a chance this week, I might work through the addition/research list I made.
 
Hubby's work hours changed last week. He starts really early, which means that I can hit the computer a few hours before I have to get my daughter up for school. Most days, by the time my daughter woke up I'd already added 2k, which makes it a lot easier to produce a high daily word count. Of course my brain hurt at the end of the day, but it was totally worth it!
 
Phew.
 
So, whenever the next round of Sierra edits hits, I'll be ready. But today I think I'll give my brain a bit of a break and work on some small things...
 
Have a good one!

Sunday 17 November 2013

TAKEDOWN TWENTY by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum has her sights set on catching a notorious mob boss. If she doesn't take him down, he may take her out.
 
New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows better than to mess with family. But when powerful mobster Salvatore "Uncle Sunny" Sunucchi goes on the lam in Trenton, it's up to Stephanie to find him. Uncle Sunny is charged with murder for running over a guy (twice), and nobody wants to turn him in - not his poker buddies, not his bimbo girlfriend, not his two right-hand men, Shorty and Moe. Even Trenton's hottest cop, Joe Morelli, has skin in the game, because - just Stephanie's luck - the godfather is his actual godfather. And while Morelli understands that the law is the law, his old-world grandmother, Bella, is doing everything she can to throw Stephanie off the trail.
 
It's not just Uncle Sunny giving Stephanie the run-around. Security specialist Ranger needs her help to solve the bizarre death of a top client's mother, a woman who happened to play bingo with Stephanie's Grandma Mazur. Before Stephanie knows it, she's working side by side with Ranger and Grandma at the senior centre, trying to catch a killer on the loose - and the bingo balls are not rolling in their favour.
 
With bullet holes in her car, henchmen on her tail, and a giraffe named Kevin running wild in the streets of Trenton, Stephanie will have to up her game for the ultimate takedown.
 
 
I love the Stephanie Plum series, it's one of my favourites. So whenever a new book comes out, I can't wait to get my hands on it. I love catching up with Steph & Co, and look forward to enjoying their latest shenanigans.
 
While Stephanie and Lula are staking out Uncle Sunny, they see a giraffe walk by followed by a black car with a satellite dish on the roof. When they pursue, they stumble on an unconscious guy who was shot with a tranquilizer dart in the butt.
 
Things start out pretty strange, and they get worse.
 
Since she's not having much luck getting her hands on Sunny because everyone seems to love him, or they're too scared to rat him out, she decides to try other cases. But nothing's working out. So when Ranger asks her out on a 'date' and it turns out to be work related, she decides to help him out. Now she's getting involved in the dangerous world of senior's bingo. And if she's going to find out who's been killing old ladies and then dumping their bodies, she has no choice but to follow it through to the end. 
 
So many bad things happen to Stephanie in this one--she breaks a finger, breaks her nose, falls down the stairs, gets thrown off a bridge--that she decides she's had it with being a bounty hunter. And actually quits long enough to try starting a new career as a butcher...um, yeah. Things don't end well there either. If only she could just make up her mind about which man she wants to share the rest of her life with: Morelli or Ranger. Nah, that's not gonna happen. ;)
 
Takedown Twenty is another hilarious instalment in this fun series, but it also puts Stephanie in some pretty scary situations. I love how Janet Evanovich always throws Stephanie into the most dire of situations, and keeps making her life harder and fills it with indecision, but can still keep the story light-hearted. I cracked up so many times while I was reading this book, but it also kept me on the edge of my seat because I couldn't wait to find out who the murderer was!
 
I loved this book, and look forward to the next one. Of course! ;) 
 
Takedown Twenty, December 2013, ISBN  9781472201577, Headline Fiction

Friday 8 November 2013

Blogging with Pictures...


Hey, how are ya?
  
 
So, this started last Friday:
 
www.nanowrimo.org
 
But first round edits for this book arrived...
 
 
And even though I did do some of this:
 
(Word count up to 5,475)
 
Edits always get pushed to the top of the 
 
So I spent most of my time doing this:
 
 
The good news is I finished the edits and emailed them back yesterday afternoon. 
 
 
 
So I'll be able to give my
story more attention today, and next week!
(I'm writing Recast #4)
 
Oh, and I'll hopefully get the chance to finish the awesome urban fantasy book I've been reading but just haven't had the time for...
 
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HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

TORN FROM THE SHADOWS blurb!


That's right! I've got the final blurb for Sierra's fourth book...
 
 
All it takes is one goddess-affiliated demon to seal the deal.

Sierra Fox, Book 4  
 
Sierra Fox knows better than to believe the demon-obsessed freakshow has given up on her. She’s settled into a nice routine of living with her sister, enjoying her relationship with a sexy werewolf, and staying on top of work—and always waiting for the other shoe to drop. 
 
Predictably, things start falling apart as she’s suddenly swamped with surprise visits and unwanted advances, and someone she despises wants her help.   
 
When a spook-catching training session goes horribly wrong, she encounters a man who’s not quite as dead as she’d hoped. Mace is now more than human and still determined to get his hands on her. But not if Sierra accepts the strengthening gifts her grandmother bestowed at her birth. 
 
Having the good guys put a price on her head is enough to ruin anyone’s day, but Sierra refuses to give up or give in. Even if it means exercising the last option on earth she wants. But claiming the ultimate power may not be enough to save the man she loves before his werewolf past destroys him.

 
Warning: Phantasms, pookas, werewolves, and demons, oh yes! And a spook-catching heroine who must choose to take what’s rightfully hers—even if it means walking the shadows with a demon.

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