Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, Book 4) Review

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(More customer reviews)The husband-wife writer duo have come out with the best book in the series! I thought it couldn't be possible after the Midnight Games in Magic Strikes but I am simply ecstatic to be proved wrong!
Kate Daniel's secret identity is swiftly unraveling, her relationship with Curran is on rocky volcanic plasma, her shape-shifter friends are in extreme danger since a very special big baddie has come to town to target them. And her Order boss doesn't want her to help or assist them. To mention anything more would be a spoiler...
I love the combat in Magic Bleeds, which by itself is good enough to rate the book 5 stars. The tension is ratcheted up several notches, the battle scenes are extremely vivid and unlike the earlier books, Kate is tested to the limits of her sword mastery - no easy monsters here. For the folks who don't care much action, the humor and witty repartee that has been a feature of these books since the beginning continue to make you laugh uncontrollably at times (don't read in public or you'll get strange looks). Yet the story is much darker and no character has it easy. This book truly begins the final countdown with Roland.
A fantasy series with no boring filler book! To hit the sweet-read jackpot again and again like this takes amazing skill and dedication on part of the authors.

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Kate Daniels cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to deal with-especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community. And now there's a new player in town-a foe that may be too much for even Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family.

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Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls Novel) Review

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(More customer reviews)Kylie Galen is at a rough point in her young life. Her boyfriend just dumped her for not putting out, her parents are getting a divorce and her dad is moving out. To top it all off, her night terrors have come back.
Kylie decides to shake it off with a night out with her friends. She goes to a party but really isn't having a good time. However, when the cops come, she is holding a drink. Her mom comes to get her out of jail and announces to Kylie that she is sending her to a summer camp for troubled teens.
Kylie knows she didn't drink or do any drugs at the party but all of her whining and wheedling doesn't get her out of camp. She feels alone; that her mother doesn't love her and her father doesn't want her. But the kids at the camp are unique. They look goth and all have their own looks. When Kylie is oriented, she learns that everyone at the camp has a special gift - supernatural gifts. Camp leader Holliday tries to convince Kylie she is special too, but she is having none of it. Sure, she may be seeing ghosts, but humans can see ghosts too, right?
Then, she meets a half-fae boy who really reminds her of her ex-boyfriend, but she is still attracted to him. To further confuse her, a boy she knew when she was little is at the camp too, and he really makes her tingle. But the Feds keep coming to the camp, interrogating the teens, looking for something, even though they are vague.
Kylie tries to deal with her ghosts, makes friends with a witch and a vampire, juggles two boys, adjusts to her parents divorcing, and tries to figure out who she really is. Together, with a bit of mystery tossed in, they merge into a wonderful paranormal story with a coming of age twist. C.C. Hunter does a wonderful job of world-building and creating likable and realistic characters. I look forward to more of Kylie and her friends! Great YA Read!!

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Don't miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams, Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren't just "troubled." Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie's never felt normal, but surely she doesn't belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn't complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek's a half-fae who's determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin' hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn't be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—ShadowFalls is exactly where she belongs…

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Once Bitten Review

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(More customer reviews)New author - great story. I love books by such authors as Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Robin McKinley, Nalini Singh, Michelle Sagara, Katie MacAlister, Rachel Caine, Ilona Andrews, Carrie Vaughn...I love Fantasy, SciFi, Urban Fantasy. Well, I loved this book. Kalayna Price creates a world you want to visit and characters you want to know. My only complaint - it was too short. I wasn't ready to leave Kita and her friends. I want more.
Kita is a shifter who turns into a calico house cat and as her father's heir, she doesn't think she is up to the task of leading her clan, full of such shifters as lions and tigers. So she escapes to earth through a gate that opens on the full moon. Constantly hiding from the hunters sent to find her she is just scraping by, surviving hand to mouth, day to day. She is not really living, nor does she actually hope for more out of life. Truly a lost little kitten in a big bad world. I loved that the author let us know just how lost Kita was, how foreign she found earth by the little keepsakes she keeps in her coat pockets...like a couple of marbles. When Kita first found the marbles she thought they were very pretty rocks. The story is fast pased and for Kita it quickly goes to heck in a hand basket only to find herself a newly made vampire. She has no idea what that means for her. She's not even sure she's still a shifter. Talk about a fish out of water...a lost little kitten. Through her struggles she finds more strength within herself then she ever could have imagined. (She is woman hear her meow.) After being such a loner and so alone for the last 5 years, she finds true friends. People she can count on when things get rough...and they definitely get rough. I'm really looking forward to more in the haven series with book two, 'Twice Dead' coming out February 2010.

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Vampires and Shapeshifters. A Fictionwise bestseller: No. 1 on the Fictionwise Dark Fantasy list in Feb. 2009Kita Nekai, on the run and the smallest of her shifter clan-a calico cat among lions and tigers-is being hunted. She was expected to accept her role as her father's successor whether or not her cat was up to the task of leading the clan. She disagreed. Now she's less than a step ahead of the hunters, bone-tired, cold, and living hand-to-mouth in the city of Haven. And that's the high point of her day. She's also drugged, "accidently" turned into a vampire, and sentenced to death for recklessly creating a rogue shifter who tortures its human prey. She's got seventy-two hours to find the rogue, evade a city full of hunters, prove she's not responsible for the rogue, and keep the vampire council from killing her. All while sorting out an apprentice mage, a married ex-boyfriend shifter-hunter, and the vampire who made her.Reviews:"Many of the world-building elements such as the nature of the vampire council, Firth and the society of the mages and Nathanial's backstory are deliberately left enigmatic to pique our curiosity and look forward to exploring the possibilities in future tales. Refreshingly, Once Bitten wraps up without the usual ubiquitous series cliff-hanger and ends on a positive note. Once Bitten is a solid urban fantasy debut with enough original ideas and twists to satisfy readers looking for something different and fresh. Kalayna Price is currently working on the next book in the Haven series." --Scifiguy Reviews"Once Bittenis imaginative, thoroughly entertaining, and easily keeps a reader's attention." -- Patricia's Vampire Notes Reviews"I'll be watching for book two in this exciting new series." -- Darque Reviews"This was a perfect adventure." -- Paranormal Romance Reviews"Urban fantasy readers who enjoy the works of Kelly Armstrong and V.K. Forrest will have a great time reading this exhilarating story." -- Harriet Klausner"Young Adult girls will swoon over the strong male characters and try to be just like Kita. 4 Hearts" -- Book Reviews by Crystal

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Caressed By Ice (Psy-Changelings, Book 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)Judd Lauren is a Psy, he is also an Arrow, one of the elite fighting forces of the Psy Council. He and his family now reside with the Snowdancer, Changling Clan. His family was ordered to be reeducated which means their minds would be destroyed. They escaped to the Wolf-Changling Clan thinking they would be killed but the children would live. However, the Snowdancers have accepted the whole family into their protection. The children are assimilating and learning to face and use their emotions. But Judd is still Psy and his mind is locked into the protocol of Silence. Any amount of emotion causes the pain of dissonance and can ultimately cause his death.
Brenna Kincaid was tortured and her mind destroyed by a Psy. He abducted her and over a week tore through her mind and cut and hurt her body. When she was rescued she was in a coma, and Sasha a renegade E-Psy who is the mate of Lucas, leader of the Leopard Clan was the only one who could reach her. She is steadily drawn to Judd. She finds it hard to understand why since he is Psy, but he calls to her in every way. She is determined to reach his emotions and she knows, somehow, that he is not indifferent to her.
Judd constantly pushes her away, but when he realizes someone is out to hurt her again all his walls start to crumble. Judd is a dangerous Psy not just to Brenna but to everyone. He is able to kill with a thought, only with the protocol of Silence is he able to control his emotions. Judd is able to use his abilities for the Clan and to protect those things important to him. Brenna is one of those things and someone is out to hurt her. The one thing Judd will not allow.
The action is fast the plot involved, and the animosity between the Psy and Changling communities growing. I have loved each of the novels in this series. The world and our knowledge grow with each book. Along with the JR Ward series of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, these are my two favorite series at this time. I encourage you to start with A SLAVE TO SENSATION, then read VISIONS OF HEAT and finally this book. But you can read them in any order. Well worth the time and money.


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Brenna, a she-wolf Psy, was abducted by a serial killer-and returned a monster. The only person who can help her is Judd, a telekinetic and Council defector. But the passion burning between them could push them both over the edge of sanity.

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Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of the best-realized fantasy worlds I've encountered in a debut novel. Our heroine, Kate, lives in an alternate Atlanta, where magic and technology come in unpredictable waves. When her guardian is killed, she seeks out the murderer using some hilarious concepts of investigation.
If you are a paranormal romance reader, this book may not be for you. Despite its title, "Magic Bites" falls strongly on the fantasy end of the continuum. "Magic Bites" is both a very good fantasy and mystery and you can get easily drawn in--as long as you are not too disappointed there is not a strong romance line in the novel.
Another warning, if you are someone who thinks vampires are dead sexy, this book does not ascribe to this point of view. Vampires are nobody's erotic fantasy in this novel and that makes them particularly interesting.
World building is critical to the fantasy genre and Ms. Andrews has earned a 5 star rating just for that. The rules for her world are pretty clear and she sticks to them. She's obviously carefully considered the eventualities of phases where magic and technology rule the city and keeps things interesting with the changes she puts her characters through.
Kate is a well-realized and interesting character. She's someone you can empathize with and she's got a pretty darn good sense of humor. I see shades of Raymond Chandler in this book in the humor.
Also, Andrews resolves her mystery in this book, but leaves you with enough questions to want to read her next novel in this series. I, for one, hope the novel comes soon, but I think she will be well worth the wait.

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Mercenary Kate Daniels cleans up urban problems of a paranormal kind. But her latest prey, a pack of undead warriors, presents her greatest challenge.

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Frost Moon (Skindancer, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Frost Moon" grabs you by the neck and throws you head first into the rip-tide life of Dakota Frost, magical tattoo artist and skindancer. This dark urban fantasy by Anthony Francis challenges you from the start to keep up or drown, tangled in the hidden roots you can feel lurking just under the surface.
Dakota is part of the Edgeworld--an alternate-world subculture that is populated by weres, vampires, witches, magicians, and the occasional agent of a secret government law enforcement agency--set in Atlanta, Georgia. As a magical tattooist, Dakota inks powerful designs into her own skin and that of her clients. Whether for protection or control, these magical tattoos can take on a life of their own.
In "Frost Moon", Dakota is recruited by law enforcement to consult on evidence from a serial killer who is murdering Edgeworlders for the very same kind of tattoos that Dakota creates. And there are only days left until the next murder is expected to occur. The story launches from there. Much of the plot is invested in Dakota's process of tracking down people to consult on new magical tattoo designs and the dangers she encounters along the way. And oh, what trouble she gets into with the numerous supporting characters that are tossed into the mix, seemingly at random.
The biggest criticism I have for this book is that time is unbelievably condensed, with too much happening in too short of a time frame. At times, the plot feels excessively full with too much going on while still being delivered in a rather brusque tone. Francis struggles with the balance between too much information/action and not enough, a hazard of creating his own world for this series, though he manages to pull most of it together at the end.
Overall, a good read. I look forward to seeing what is in store for Dakota Frost in the next book of Francis's Skindancer series.
Note: This review is of the "Early Reviewers" edition of this book via LibraryThing. (*** 1/2 )

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In an alternate Atlanta where magic is practiced openly, where witches sip coffee at local cafes, shapeshifters party at urban clubs, vampires rule the southern night like gangsters, and mysterious creatures command dark caverns beneath the city, Dakota Frost's talents are coveted by all.She's the best magical tattooist in the southeast, a Skindancer, able to bring her amazing tats to life. When a serial killer begins stalking Atlanta's tattooed elite, the police and theFeds seek Dakota's help.Can she find the killer on the dark fringe of the city's Edgeworld?Among its powerful outcasts and tortured loners, what kind ofenemies and allies will she attract?Will they see her as an invader, as a seducer, as an unexpected champion ... or as delicious prey?FROST MOON is Book One of the SKINDANCER fantasy series by debut author Anthony Francis. Filled with unforgettable characters, spine-tingling action, kinky rebellion and edgy love, FROST MOON is classic storytelling at its best, and Dakota Frost is an irresistible new star of fantasy fiction.Anthony Francis is a computer scientist who works at the 'Search Engine That Starts With A G'. By day he studies human and other minds to design intelligent machines and emotional robots; by night he writes fiction and draws comic books. He received his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from Georgia Tech.He lives in San Jose with his wife and cats but his heart will always belong in Atlanta.

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Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)Forever is the final book in the Mercy Falls trilogy, and it's just as gripping and filled with emotion as the first two, Shiver and Linger. Beginning a few months after Grace has shifted into a wolf, we find Sam and Isabel waiting for her return as the weather warms, and Cole still intent on discovering a cure. Meanwhile, suspicion has turned on Sam due to Grace's disappearance, and Isabel's father is determined to rid Boundary Woods of all wolves, no matter the cost. When he gets lawmakers on his side, Isabel knows time is running out and she has to do something.
I love Cole St. Clair. I just had to say that. He is comic relief, determination, arrogance, and romance all rolled into one character, and while his story is secondary, he's actually the one I felt closest to throughout Forever. I loved the banter between he and Isabel, and the scene in her mother's clinic is perfect. Don't get me wrong, I love Sam as well, but Cole...he's the most three dimensional figure in the series.
Forever runs mostly on emotion, with the love and longing of Grace and Sam taking center stage. I love how these two work together and I swear I could feel the longing between the two when Grace kept shifting. Both characters have a lot of childhood issues to deal with in Forever, and things don't always work out as planned. It's during those times that both Isabel and Rachel shine; I would want both of these girls on my side in a crisis.
Possible spoiler...While I loved Forever, and feel it's a strong finale, I am disappointed in the ultimate ending. For the last of a trilogy, it's just too open-ended. I can imagine what I hope will happen, and the title of the book gives me a clue that perhaps I'm right. But to leave things unsettled really bothers me, to the point that I took a star off my final review. I felt as though, rather than making a statement, the ending was almost a cop out; perhaps the author had originally intended for either Grace or Sam to die and then just couldn't do it herself so she left the possibility? And if she wanted them to live, why not just extend the book a bit more or add an epilogue? It just doesn't make sense in a series that has been carefully plotted and developed so well up to that point. Don't get me wrong, I loved Forever and will recommend this series to others. I just will always wish the author hadn't left it up to me to decide the ultimate fates of two people I'd grown very close to over the course of three books. One way or the other, I needed more closure than was provided, and that mars my overall enjoyment (slightly) of this book.

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