Title: Magic Slays (Kate Daniels #5) Author: Ilona Andrews Publisher: Ace Penguin Berkley Release date: June 2011 Reading level:Ages 18 and up Rating: 4.5/5 Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository You can read my review of Magic Bites- here, Magic Burns - here, Magic Strikes - here & Magic Bleeds - here
Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job.
Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she's still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate's mate.
So when Atlanta's premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price.
The Kate Daniels series has become one of my favorites because it has a great heroine, lots of action, is fast-paced with no dull moments, I also love Kate´s mate Curran (finally! they´re a couple, after so much sexual tension between them), and it has great secondary characters that are easy to like, such as Derek, Julie, Jim and Andrea.
The main plot is very interesting, there is a new threat that could endanger the entire magical world and Kate is in the middle of it, but there are also other subplots such as Kate´s and Curran´s relationship as mates because there are still some details to work out between them. And there is also Julie, Kate´s ward that continues to cause problems like any other teenager.
But in the midst of dealing with all this, Kate discovers new information about Voron, her adoptive father and his relationship with her mother, something that affects her balance and cast doubt on everything she though she knew until then.
Magic Slays was a really great read, it has lots of action and the plot does not stop at any time, the story flows well and it has its funny moments that make me laugh out loud and I also enjoyed Kate´s sarcasm.
The Kate Daniels series is a MUST READ (it´s an amazing series) .... I highly recommend it.
Title: Thicker Than Water Author: Brigid Kemmerer Publisher: Kensington Books Release date: December 29th 2015 Source: Netgalley Format: eARC Rating: 3/5 Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
On his own
Thomas Bellweather hasn’t been in town long. Just long enough for his newlywed mother to be murdered, and for his new stepdad’s cop colleagues to decide Thomas is the primary suspect.
Not that there’s any evidence. But before Thomas got to Garretts Mill there had just been one other murder in twenty years.
The only person who believes him is Charlotte Rooker, little sister to three cops and, with her soft hands and sweet curves, straight-up dangerous to Thomas. Her best friend was the other murder vic. And she’d like a couple answers.
Answers that could get them both killed, and reveal a truth Thomas would die to keep hidden…
I´ve read and enjoyed a lot the Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer, so I started reading Thicker Than Water with very high expectations and although it was not what I expected, I must admit that is an okay book.
Thicker Than Water is a book YA murder mystery with romance. The main plot is about the murder of Thomas's mother, she died violently in bed and only Thomas and his mother were in the house at the time and there wasn´t a sign of forced entry into the house, so due to this Thomas is the main suspect.
Thomas's mother had recently married to a police detective and a few weeks of being married and moved to a new town, she was murdered, so the funeral is full of policemen and their families that don´t like Thomas due of being a suspect. At the funeral he meets Charlotte, which has three overprotective police brothers, along with her father whom is also a policeman, so from the beginning the whole family are against Charlotte befriending Thomas, so they prohibit to speak to him, but she ignores them and strikes up a friendship/romance with him and in the course of their friendship/romance both begin to investigate possible clues of another similar murder that could help them discover what really happened that night.
The book reads most of the time as a contemporary novel, but it has a twist with supernatural elements. The plot is slow and sometimes it feels that is dragging, but in the end I did enjoy it, but it has flaws and the ending was somewhat open for my liking.
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
The book I´m waiting this week is
The Crown's Game (The Crown's Game #1) by Evelyn Skye
Release date: May 17th 2016
Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.
Top Ten Unfinished Book Series (in no particular order) Last book in the series. I´ve read all the books of the series or trilogy except the last one.
I´ve read six books from the Soul Screamers series and I loved it but for some reason I haven´t read the seventh and last book of the series - With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent.
I´ve read Unearthly and Hallowed but I haven´t read the final book of the trilogy - Boundless by Cynthia Hand.
I haven´t read Allegiant by Veronica Roth because I read a major spoiler and just coudn´t read it.
Anna and the French Kiss is one of my favorite books and I also liked Lola and the Boy Next Door, so I don´t know why I haven´t read Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.
I really liked the first and secong book of the trilogy and Fire with Fire had a cliffhanger, so I need to read Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian.
After the cliffhanger of The Iron Traitor I need to read The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa soon.
I´ve read seven books from the Artemis Fowl series and I liked it but for some reason I haven´t read the eighth and last book of the series -The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
Title: Driven (Otherworld Stories #13.6) Author: Kelley Armstrong Publisher: Subterranean Press Release date: January 31st 2016 Source: Netgalley Format: eARC Reading level:Ages 18 and up Rating: 4.25/5 Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository You can read my review of The Hunter and The Hunted & Otherworld Nights
Cains are known for being big, brutish and not-too-bright. The mutt clan embodies all the supernatural world’s worst stereotypes about werewolves. But not even the Cains deserve to be hunted down and skinned like animals.
When young Davis Cain comes to the Pack for help, Alpha Elena Michaels can’t refuse him. It isn’t about morality or justice. It’s about not letting anyone think they can do this to werewolves and get away with it.
But Elena is also dealing with the Pack’s homegrown monster—Malcolm Danvers, onetime enforcer, full-time psycho. Malcolm is now under Elena’s control, as part of the most difficult decision she’s had to make as leader. But if she has to let Malcolm in, she’s going to make full use of him…and the best person to catch monsters is one who knows exactly how they think.
I'm a fan of the Women of Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong and I love the world where story takes place, which is in today's world but combined with the supernatural elements such as werewolves, vampires, witches, sorcerers, necromancers, half-demons, demons, etc. I am also a fan of her Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies, those too take place in the same world, but is aimed at a young audience, while the Otherworld series is for adults.
The last book in the series Thirteen was published in 2012 and I was sad to say goodbye to this series, but thanks to Kelley Armstrong and her short stories and novellas (here you can see a list of them) ... I'm still visiting the characters that I loved so much and Driven is an urban fantasy novella of 232 pages about Elena Michaels´s pack, she´s my favorite heroine of the series ..... this novella ties up loose ends related to the pack but also we get so see more of the life of the members of her pack (Clayton, Kate, Logan, Jeremy, Nick, Vanessa, Reese, Maddie, Noah, Karl, Hope and Antonio). In addition to finally know what will happen with Malcolm Danvers, Jeremy's father, a lunatic murderer that is sore spot for Elena´s pack and she must decide what to do with him once and for all.
And other part of the plot is that Elena must discover what that is hunting and killing the Cains, a family of werewolves that hates the pack and have always caused them problems, but Davis Cain, a young werewolf seeks help from the pack and she decides to help him despite how much enmity had existed between them.
One thing that I liked very much is the mention Derek Souza (briefly), which is a character of the Darkest Powers trilogy and my favorite character of that trilogy.
Driven is a novella that I enjoyed very much, just for the nostalgia of visiting once more that world, its characters and have a glimpse in their lives. As always these stories have action, mystery and funny parts. I highly recommend it for fans of the Women of the Otherworld series.
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
The book I´m waiting this week is
Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
Release date: March 8th 2016
She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.
Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.
Title: Passenger (Passenger #1) Author: Alexandra Bracken Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Release date: January 5th 2016 Source: Netgalley Format: eARC Rating: 4.25/5 Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.
In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.
Passenger is the first book I´ve read written by author Alexandra Bracken and I liked it very much, because it is a fiction book about time travelers, a theme that I love. The first chapters are slow due that are introducing the two main characters and their lives.
The book is told from the points of views of Etta Spencer and Nicholas Carter. Etta is a violin prodigy that without knowing how travels back in time to the year 1776, aboard a ship and there her life intersects with that of Nicholas, a pirate (a legal pirate - at least that's what he says) and from there they embark on a great adventure through various time periods and around the world in search of an object that is hidden because it could jeopardize the future of many people and Etta must find it and deliver it to the villain of the story,- before a certain date, otherwise Etta would endanger the life of a loved one.
Etta is a seventeen-year-old girl that lives in present day New York, she´s focused on her upcoming debut as a concert soloist, at the beginning we met a shy girl, that suffers from stage fright, but with the help of her instructor and breathing exercises, hopes to make her big debut, .... something that does not come to pass because of her unexpected journey into the past. But once in the past, Etta finds strength and self assurance to face the obstacles and tests that are in the way, and she isn´t a damsel in need of rescue.
Nicholas is a nineteen-year-old man, he had a difficult childhood, having been born a slave, but now he´s a free man, that works as a legal pirate and whose dream is to be the captain of his own ship. But when his path crosses with Etta´s, his life takes a new turn, because he´s her companion in her journey through time, as a protector and also for his own reasons.
There is romance in the story, but not instant love because despite their initial attraction, they aren´t vowing eternal love to each other from the beggining. Also both keep secrets and are not completely honest with each other, but time together strengthen their friendship and start to trust in each other.
What I liked most of the story is the time travel, so once Etta and Nicholas start their journey, the story hook me and I could not put it down and it has a huge cliffhanger. I can´t wait to read its sequel - Wayfarer. which will be published until next year.
I highly recommended this book for fans of time travel and historical fiction.
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
The book I´m waiting this week is
Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
Release date: April 5th 2016
Tell the Wind & Fire is about a young girl called Lucie who lives in a New York very different from the New York we know: the city is torn between two very different kinds of magic, and Lucie’s own family was torn apart years ago by that conflict. Lucie wears magic rings and carries a burden of guilt she can’t share with anyone.
The light in her life is her sweetheart boyfriend Ethan, but it turns out Ethan has a secret too: a soulless doppelganger created by dark magic, who has to conceal the face identical to Ethan’s with a hood fastened by a collar nobody but a Light magician with magical rings can take off… and who introduces himself to both of them by, for reasons nobody can understand, saving Ethan’s life…
Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't (in no particular order) These are the books that I meant to buy but ate the end I didn´t for diverse reasons and I´m on the fence on some of them. Any recommendations?
