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Reviews of books in a series, with a focus on urban fantasy.
Other genres include mystery, paranormal romance, and crime thrillers.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Trailer for No Mercy

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Here is the trailer for No Mercy, the next book in the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. No Mercy is scheduled for release September 7th.

You can read an excerpt here. Here's the blurb:

Live fast, fight hard and if you have to die then take as many of your enemies with you as you can. That is the Amazon credo and it was one Samia lived and died by. Now in contemporary New Orleans, the immortal Amazon warrior is about to learn that there’s a worse evil coming to slaughter mankind than she’s ever faced before.

Shapeshifter Dev Peltier has stood guard at the front of Sanctuary for almost two hundred years and in that time, he’s seen it all. Or so he thought. Now their enemies have discovered a new source of power- one that makes a mockery of anything faced to date.

The war is on and Dev and Sam are guarding ground zero. But in order to win, they will have to break the most cardinal of all rules and pray it doesn’t unravel the universe as we know it.

Am I the only one excited about Dev's story? Or what happens next? The great thing about this series is the series arcs, the plots that span the books. It's not just that I want to see things from Dev's point of view, it's that I want to know what is going to happen next.

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Posted by Kirsten at 2:21 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Demon from the Dark (Immortals After Dark Series, Book 8) by Kresley Cole

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Demon from the Dark didn't start out all that great for me, but once things got going it was pretty much impossible to put down.

The biggest problem with the Immortals After Dark series, for me, is the huge cast of characters combined with the time span between reading the books. I should probably read the series again at some point, because I'm losing track of who is who, what their powers are, what their histories are, etc.

We have story arcs being followed through from several previous storylines in Demon from the Dark, threads that are pretty important when it comes to the events in this book.So, not fully remembering events from previous books was a bit of a problem - I remembered the basics, but not the details.

Things started slowly for me, I think because right away the story starts with two people I've never heard of before. And then once the story moves beyond that and into the present day, the reader is still kind of lost as to what is going on. Nothing to anchor on to, for a while.

At some point we find out enough of what is going on that we can get into the story though, and from there it's an E Ride. However, there are some things that I was fine with while reading the story, but now I'm thinking... really? He'd have gone from wild hellion to mostly civilized that quickly, after hundreds of years? But, the story is so skillfully written that I had none of those thoughts while I was reading it.

Here's the blurb:

A dangerous demon she can't resist...

Malkom Slaine: tormented by his sordid past and racked by vampiric hungers, he's pushed to the brink by the green-eyed beauty under his guard.

A maddening witch he aches to claim...

Carrow Graie: hiding her own sorrows, she lives only for the next party or prank. Until she meets a tortured warrior worth saving.

Trapped together in a savage prison...

For them to survive, Malkom must unleash both the demon and vampire inside him. When he becomes the nightmare his own people feared, will he lose the woman he craves body and soul?
As for the writing elements, the plot is yet another plot of two people brought together under impossible circumstances who come together against impossible odds. It's a very creative plot though, and pretty good, fitting in nicely with the rest of the series. Several things about the story do require the reader to suspend belief where personalities and emotions are concerned, but for the most part it's a good plot. And it goes a long way towards furthering the overall series plot arcs.

The pacing had some serious issues in places, but once I got 20% of the way into it I didn't even consider putting it down. Prose and dialogue were good. Character development was most excellent, and world building continues to be very well thought out with a whole lot of intricate details thrown in to help the world come alive.

The sex in this one was rather hot, too.

  • Book Rating:: 8 of 10
  • Series Rating: 8 of 10


1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King
6.5 Deep Kiss of Winter
7. Pleasure of a Dark Prince
8. Demon from the Dark
9. Dreams of a Dark Warrior (Regin's story, I think) Feb 2011

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Posted by Kirsten at 11:38 AM 0 comments

Friday, August 27, 2010

* Anxiously Awaiting as of late August 2010

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I've marked the new finds in red, in case you're just looking for the new stuff. I've also put an (e) next to the books that have an excerpt out, clicking the (e) will take you to my listing of excerpts.

Apparently Laurell K. Hamilton is taking a year off from writing the Meredith Gentry series, and will begin writing the next book sometime next year. That probably means the end of 2012 or sometime in 2013 before we get the next Merry book. Meanwhile, the title for the next Anita Blake book has been announced as Hit List.

08/31/10 Sparks (Anya Kalinczyk / Embers book 2) by Laura Bickle (e)
09/07/10 Dexter Is Delicious (Book 5 of the Dexter series) by Jeff Lindsay (e)
09/07/10 Vampire Trinity (Vampire Queen Book 6) by Joey W. Hill (e)
09/07/10 An Artificial Night (October Daye book 3) by Seanan McGuire
09/07/10 No Mercy (Dark Hunters #19) by Sherrilyn Kenyon (e)
09/14/10 Wicked Appetite (Diesel, Book 1) by Janet Evanovich (e)
09/28/10 Venom (Elemental Assassin Bk 3) by Jennifer Estep (e)
09/28/10 Naked Heat (Nikki Heat Bk 2) by Richard Castle (e)
09/28/10 Bayou Moon (The Edge series Book 2), by Ilona Andrews (e)
09/28/10 Double Cross (Justine Jones Disillusionist Book 2) by Carolyn Crane
10/05/10 Never After (Anth) by Laurell K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, etc.
10/26/10 Haunted by Your Touch (Anth) by Shayla Black, Jeaniene Frost, Sharie Kohler, etc.
10/26/10 Side Jobs (Anthology of Dresden short stories) by Jim Butcher
Fall/2010 Blood Rock (Dakota Frost / Skindancer series book two) by Anthony Francis (e)
Fall/2010 Shadow Fall (Shadowchaser book 3) by Seressia Glass
11/02/10 Marked By The Moon (Nightcreatures #9) by Lori Handeland 
11/02/10 Play of Passion (Psy/Changeling #9, Indigo's Book) by Nalini Singh (e)
11/02/10 Magic at the Gate (Allie Beckstrom Book 5) by Devon Monk (e)
11/30/10 Vicious Grace (Black Sun's Daughter Book 3) by M.L.N. Hanover
11/30/10 Silver Zombie (Delilah Street #4) by Carole Nelson Douglas
11/30/10 Counterfeit Magic (Women of the Otherworld Novella) by Kelley Armstrong
11/30/10 Killing the Cobra-Chinatown Trollop (Felix Gomez-Comic), Mario Acevedo, Alberto Dose
12/28/10 My Fair Succubi (Succubus Diaries Bk 3) by Jill Myles (e)
12/29/10 Tempest's Legacy (Jane True Book 3) by Nicole Peeler 
Late/2010 Safe Words (Deviations book 5) by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne
01/04/11 Mercy Blade (Jane Yellowrock, Book 3) by Faith Hunter (e)
01/04/11 Home for a Spell (Bewitching Mystery, Book 7) by Madelyn Alt
01/25/11 River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6) by Patricia Briggs
??/??/11 Risa book 1 (Dark Angel series) by Keri Arthur (e)
??/??/11 Redemption (Dark Hunters #20) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
??/??/?? Eye of the Tempest (Jane True Book 4) by Nicole Peeler
02/01/11 Invincible (Chronicles of Nick Volume 2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
02/15/11 Dreams of a Dark Warrior  (Immortals After Dark Series) by Kresley Cole
02/22/11 This Side of the Grave (Cat and Bones #5, Night Huntress series) by Jeaniene Frost
02/22/11 Pale Demon (The Hollows Rachel Morgan, Book 9) by Kim Harrison
02/25/11 Archangel's Consort (Guild Hunter Book 3) Nalini Singh
03/01/11 Blackout (Cal Leandros, Book 6) by Rob Thurman
03/01/11 Moon Cursed (Nightcreature Novels, Book 10) by Lori Handeland
03/01/11 Late Eclipses (October Daye, Book 4) by Seanan McGuire
03/15/11 Steel  by Carrie Vaughn
03/29/11 Ghost Story (Dresden Files, Book 13) by Jim Butcher
03/??/11 Demons at the Gates (Phoenix Chronicles, Book 5) by Lori Handeland
Spring/11 Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, Book 5) by Ilona Andrews (e)
??/??/11 Psy/Changeling #10 (Hawke's book) by Nalini Singh
04/05/11 Magic on the Hunt (Allie Beckstrom Book 5) by Devon Monk
04/26/11 Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, Book 4) by Jennifer Estep (e)
04/26/11 Mercy Burns (Myth & Magic Bk 2) by Keri Arthur
05/??/11 Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse Bk 11) by Charlaine Harris
Smmr/11 Liquid Fire (Dakota Frost / Skindancer series book3 ) by Anthony Francis (e)
Smmr/11 Spell Bound (Savannah) (Women/Otherworld Bk 12) Kelley Armstrong
06/09/11 Hit List (Anita Blake book 20) by Laurell K. Hamilton  
06/11/11 Kitty's Big Trouble (Kitty Norville Book Nine) by Carrie Vaughn
07/??/11 Eye Spy (Abby Cooper #9) by Victoria Laurie
FALL/11 Alpha and Omega series, Book 3 Patricia Briggs
09/11/11 The Brightest Fell (October Daye, Book 5) by Seanan McGuire
10/01/11 Alpha (Dark Hunters, Daria's story) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
10/??/11 Unnamed Elemental Assassin, Book 5 by Jennifer Estep
??/??/12 Unnamed Jaime story (Women/Otherworld Bk 13) Kelley Armstrong
09/01/12 Daemon's Angel (Dark Hunters) by Sherrilyn Kenyon 
??/??/?? Virtual Virgin (Delilah Street #5) by Carole Nelson Douglas
??/??/11 Supernaturals on Vacation (Anthology)



Not all of the series I keep up with have another book listed as coming out. The authors have stated there will be more, but to my knowledge they haven't said when, or given a title name. I've listed those series below.
* Caruthers Sisters series by Candace Havens
* Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton
* Daughters of Arianne series by Joey W. Hill

* Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

Below are series I follow, but it is unclear whether there will be more books in the series:
* Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens
* Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong
* Nature of Desire series by Joey W. Hill
* Felix Gomez series Mario Acevedo
* Spellman series by Lisa Lutz

You can read an excerpt of many of these books, to see my list of excerpts please go here. 

If someone wants to send me an ARC of one of the books on my Anxiously Awaiting list, I will read it within a day or two of it arriving (assuming I'm home and I'm not sick or anything), and will get a blog post up of it as soon as I've finished reading it. You may send me a digital version at chained lightning at g mail dot com, or to send a hard copy you may contact me at that email address to ask for a shipping address. If you have an ARC you would like to send that is not on my Anxiously Awaiting list I will attempt to read and review it in a timely manner but it may not be placed topmost in my TBR pile. Feel free to email me to see if I'd be interested in reading something, as well. I've found a few authors this way that I may not have read had I not received a review copy from the publisher. And now I'm hooked on a few of those series, just waiting for the next book.
Posted by Kirsten at 11:05 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

* Excerpts, First Chapters, and Sneak Peeks

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Some of the books on my Anxiously Awaiting list have excerpts available at the author's or publisher's websites.

I would love to have an ARC for any of the books on this list, or on my Anxiously Awaiting list. See my Review Policy for more information about sending books for review.

Seanan McGuire has a page up for An Artificial Night (October Daye book 3), there is a nice blurb and the text from the back cover, but no excerpt yet. 9/7

Nicole Peeler has a page up for  Tempest's Legacy (Jane True Book 3), but so far just a blurb. 12/29

Sherrilyn Kenyon has a page up for Invincible (Chronicles of Nick Volume 2), with a note that an excerpt will be up in the middle of 2010. (release date 02/01/11)

Jeaniene Frost has a page up for This Side of the Grave (Cat and Bones #5, Night Huntress series) with the beautiful cover and a blurb.

Rob Thurman has a page up with cover art and blurb for Blackout, the sixth Cal Leandros Book 3/1/11

Sherrilyn Kenyon has a page up for Redemption (Dark Hunters #20), with an blurb but no excerpt yet. 

In case you haven't read them yet, there are also some excerpts up for books released in 2009, and so far in 2010:

Posted by Kirsten at 4:04 PM 0 comments
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