I chose to read another fantasy book this week. I placed an Amazon order to celebrate writing ‘the end’, and both of these books arrived in the mail. I’ve read the Cast series for the last three years and love them. I’ve also read the first Laura Anne Gilman series and can’t wait to see if the second set of books are just as good.

Here are the blurbs for this week:

Cast in Peril~

It has been a busy few weeks for Private Kaylin Neya. In between angling for a promotion, sharing her room with the last living female Dragon and dealing with more refugees than anyone knew what to do with, the unusual egg she’d been given began to hatch. Actually, that turned out to be lucky, because it absorbed the energy from the bomb that went off in her quarters.…

So now might be the perfect time to leave Elantra and journey to the West March with the Barrani. If not for the disappearances of citizens in the fief of Tiamaris—disappearances traced to the very Barrani Kaylin is about to be traveling with…

Lord of the Fading Lands~

Welcome to P.U.P.I.—Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations

A handpicked team trained to solve crimes the regular police can’t touch—crimes of magic.

My name’s Bonnie Torres. Recent college grad, magic user and severely unemployed. Until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn’t applied for. It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work—so off I went.

Two days later I’m a PUPI—me and Nick, Sharon, Nifty and Pietr. Five twenty somethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.

The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide. Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away. We’re sniffing out things they’d rather keep buried.

Looks as if this job is gonna get interesting. The only problem is, we’re making it up as we go along…

Are you reading anything of interest this week?

Title: A Brother’s Price

Synopsis~

In the epic action-adventure Snow White & the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart  plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) who was dispatched to kill her.

I had high hopes for this movie, but didn’t expect much. I purchased it when it was first released, then it languished on my movie shelf. This weekend, I finally cracked it open.

First, Charlize Theron did a fantastic job. Great acting. Visually stunning, she made the perfect evil queen.  She carried a large portion of the movie and did it effortlessly.

The main male character, Chris Hemsworth, the Huntsman did an equally good job. It didn’t hurt that he was something yummy to look at either. Big grin. 

I’ve never been really impressed with Kristen Stewart acting. It always seemed so wooden. What surprised me is that I didn’t notice it until later in the movie. I actually thought she did a pretty good job with only a few hiccups.

Overall, the story fell in the category of an epic fantasy. The stunning scenery quickly drew me in to the world. I loved the touch of fairytale and magic threaded throughout the movie. I liked that the story went dark instead of light and fluffy…it deepened the story and characters. Everyone had a great back-story, and the movie built on them. The battle scenes were well choreographed. There’s nothing quite like seeing a great sword fight. This was a wonderful new twist on the old fairytales. I hope to see other stories follow in a similar tone.

Rating:  

On my ride home today.

You don’t even want to know how many I passed on the road this week.

Both of these books came highly recommended to me…a few years ago.

Here are the blurbs for this week:

A Brother’s Price~

In a world where male children are rare, a man is a valuable commodity- to be sold to the highest bidder…

It isn’t easy being the oldest boy in the house run by women – especially for Jerin Whistler. The grandmothers of his clan are descended from soldiers, spies, and thieves – and their ruthless skills kept their family alive during their time in the wilderness. Jerin’s now afraid that he’ll have to marry the girls next door – a fate he’s convinced is worse than death. And it doesn’t help when, in the process of a daring recue, he falls in love with a princess who’s as high above his station as it’s possible to be.

Ren knows that Jerin is too far below her class to be an appropriate match for her and her roayal sisters. But then she hears rumors of a long-held Whistler family secret - one that might provide a way for them to finally be together. Unfortunately, she still has four sisters to convince. And that’s before Jerin even comes to the capital – where simmering political tensions will threaten not just their love, but all their lives….

Lord of the Fading Lands~

Once he had scorched the world.

Once he had driven back overwhelming darkness.

Once he had loved with such passion, his name was legend. . .
 
 

Long ago, in the magical holocaust known as the Mage Wars, the immortal Fey and their allies fought to defeat the grasping evil of the Elden Mages and their dark-gifted supporters. During those wars, in a fit of grief-induced madness caused by the death of his mate, Fey shapeshifter Rain Tairen Soul nearly destroyed the world in a blaze of tairen fire.

 
 
Now, a thousand years later, the fierce Fey king must fight to save his race from the brink of extinction and once again stop the evil rising in the homeland of his enemies, the Eld. The key to his success lies in the mortal city of Celieria, where the Mage Wars began, and with a young woman whose soul sings to him in ways no woman’s ever has, whose presence reawakens the primal fury of the tairen within his soul, and whose vast, untapped power can either save or destroy him and his people.

 
 
I’m in a mood for a little fantasy this week. I dug deep and pulled out two books I forgot I had sitting on the shelves. Which sounds better? What are you reading this week? I’m curious.

Title: Break Out (Blood Hunter)

This weeks has been full of a lot of ups and downs for me.

For every step forward, I was knocked backward or sideways. I’m mentally tired. The weekend can’t come soon enough for me.

Some good news that I can share…I officially wrote ‘The End’. The book needs a lot of work. Toward the end, I have sections like : Add fight scene here

I’m both excited and dread editing this book. I’m really not sure how it turned out until I dig into the pages.

Wish me luck…I’m going to need a lot of it!

I’ve had an ereader for years and was talked into getting an Amazon kindle. (We won’t mention that I was the one who did the talking.)

Anyway, I get emails every day advertising free books. I download the ones that catch my attention. Now, I have way more books on my Kindle than I’ll ever be able to read. Out of nearly a thousand books on my kindle, I’ve purchased only around ten. It’s sad.

So, I’ve decided to read from my kindle this week. There are so many good books waiting for me, it was hard to find only two. I selected the two below as they fit my mood. (And I wanted to read them for a while. Hehehe)

Here are the blurbs for this week:

Break Out (Blood Hunter)~

The year is 3048, Earth is no longer habitable, and man has fled to the stars where they’ve discovered the secret of immortality—Meridian. Unfortunately, the radioactive mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few. A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves. The Collective, as they’re called, rule the universe.

Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can’t resist two things: gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective’s maximum security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted by the Collective has never been so dangerous–or so fun!

Moonlight Bleu~ 

Saari Mitchell sees a psychologist in order to understand why-500 years later-she’s still dreaming of her dead lover. Her shrink isn’t helping, the nightmares come every time she closes her eyes, and the lack of sleep is interfering with her job at Sacred Heart Hospital. With her psychic ability to heal the human spirit on the fritz, her auric radar becomes as reliable as her spotty cell phone service.

By day, Dhelis Guidry works as a detective for the new Angeles Police Department investigating the missing or murdered women in the Full-Moon Killer case. In his spare time he hunts rogue vampires as a Tueri executioner.
 

Brogan Vincent is a Tueri healer. Though he could offer his miraculous talents to the rich and powerful, he has chosen anonymity and peace by only using his psychic abilities among the Tueri.

One look into Saari’s tri-colored eyes and both men realize she is Tueri. One touch tells them each she’s their soul mate. But can either of them protect her from the Full-Moon Killer?

Will I buy more ebooks? Yes, if the book catches my attention. But if a print version is available for a buck or two more, I’ll purchase the paperback. I’m an old dog. It takes a while to teach me new tricks. Do book formats matter to you?

First, I want to thank everyone who vistited and commented on my interview with Melissa Limoges.

And the winner is … Karen Y. Bynum!

Contratulations!!

I sent you an email.
Please let me know if you don’t receive it.

(Winner was selected by Random.org generator.)

Title: Blood Rights (House of Comarré)

Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The cover is gorgeous, but to be truthful, the blurb on the back cover didn’t really grab me. I purchased the book because I knew the author a few years ago from online. I love the urban fantasy genre, so I gave it a try. I’m not sure which I liked better, the world building or the characters. Both were evenly balanced and well thought out. The writer had a subtle way of drawing me into the character’s lives until I felt a part of it. The smooth writing made the story feel effortless, which is a rare talent and joy to read.

Both of these characters were engaging. Chrysabelle was portrayed in such a way that I rooted for her. She wasn’t helpless, but neither could she get out of the mess on her own. Tortured heroes are my favorite, and boy, did Malkolm fit the bill. When you mixed these two lonely people together, magic happened. Neither wanted to be near the other, but they both needed one another to survive the tangled mess of their past. They weren’t perfect, they made mistakes, and I loved it. The tentative romance grew over a number of pages, both of them dancing around the delicious attraction.

The intricate world building, the way the characters interacted, added an extra depth to the book. The only reason Blood Rights didn’t get the full stars was the romance felt incomplete. If you like urban fantasy, you’ll want to make sure to include this series in your collection. I will be purchasing the next book just to find out what happens next.