Books, fantasy, great reads, indie author, Reviews, scifi

Dragon Storm by Lindsay Buroker

Karen

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Lindsay Buroker was the first indie author I ever read, and I still love her books. This is the newest series she is realeasing. First the blurb:

Telryn “Trip” Yert has always been a little odd, with hunches that are too accurate to explain. Magic is feared and forbidden in Iskandia, so he’s struggled his whole life to hide his eccentricities. As a boy, he was forced to watch his mother’s execution. Her crime? Witchcraft.

Understandably, Trip wants nothing to do with the power that lurks within him, always threatening to reveal itself. Instead, he dedicates himself to serving as an officer in the king’s army, to battling pirates and imperial conquerors. He longs to become a soldier as respected and renowned as the legendary General Zirkander.

But his country is in need of more than a soldier.

After disappearing for over a thousand years, dragons have returned to the world. A few of them are willing to be allies to mankind, as they were millennia before, but far more want to destroy or enslave humans and claim the world for themselves.

There are few people left with the power to fight dragons. For reasons he doesn’t understand, Trip may be one of those people. But if he chooses to learn more about his heritage and the power he can wield, he risks losing everyone he loves and everything he longs to be.

This book reminded me of why I fell in love with indie authors. This is quality writing, a fast and fun fantasy and it was $1 (free if you have KU)!! I know I’ll pay more no doubt for the rest but that’s okay because I’m hooked. I loved the world, where swords talk and dragons power depends on their color, I enjoyed the cast of characters, most quirky and crazy, and the story was fun.

You should grab this book.

Books, fantasy, Mystery, Out of the Box Blogs, paranormal romance, steampunk, Urban Fantasy

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Karen

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I hate to just come back to blogging to a negative note, fortunately I read Burn Bright and Lake Silence back to back. Let the love fest begin! First, the blurb:

In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy, set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, Vicki DeVine and her lodger, the shapeshifter Aggie Crowe, stumble onto a dead body . . . and find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.

Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others–vampires, shapeshifters, and paranormal beings even more deadly. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget . . .

After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns like Vicki’s have no distance from the Others, the dominant predators that rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what’s out there watching you.

Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe–one of the shapeshifting Others–discovers a dead body, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the man’s death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, things get dangerous–and it’ll take everything they have to stay alive.

After my last post I feel as if everyone is looking at me and thinking..

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So I was nervous, what if I didn’t like Lake Silence? Should I just stay silent? Not to worry

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I LOVED IT!!!

Anne Bishop has managed to introduce a whole new set of characters for us to meet and start to become attached to, in a world that is familiar yet in a place that is not. It’s perfect because, though we know a lot of the terms, like terra indigene or elders, the rules have changes some since the Great Predation, some humans still go along blindly (like idiots) but most understand and fear. It’s nice to see the scarier side, and the humans who you are getting to know actually fearing those bigger and badder characters. I love that the elders and elementals are right there watching everything, adding an extra creep factor even for the terra indigene, I love the idea of possibly being part of and getting to see a place like The Jumble being formed and built, I even like Sproing (especially the Sproingers).

I loved this book. I just can’t stop saying it. I was worried that I wouldn’t like the new characters because I was so attached to Simon and Meg and to their world but, this gave me just enough of the familiar that I didn’t feel lost and just enough new that it felt like somewhere different.

Thank you Anne!

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Books, fantasy, paranormal romance, Reviews, steampunk, Urban Fantasy

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

Karen

Wow. I am so sad because Patricia Briggs has been one of my top 5 authors for a long time. This is going to be hard. First the blurb..

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf–but can’t stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills–his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker–to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn…

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Alright now that everyone has been warned let’s talk about the book.I didn’t like this book and allow me to explain why.I felt that characters I have grown to love were changed on a whim or to suit a new plot, let’s go through them each:

Anna was mean in the beginning of the book though she has always been kind and sweet. She does something to Leah (I know Leah is suppose to be the bad guy, but Anna is suppose to be the Omega and above all this) to hurt her emotionally. She knows it will make her feel terrible,and she does it for spiteful, petty reasons. It makes her appear bitchy and childish. Then she has a conversation with Charles that makes her appear manipulative. Isn’t Anna suppose to be sweet and kind? But wait we are constantly reminded how smart she is, at nauseous amounts. By chapter two I started to dislike her and she started to grate on me.

Leah the lead bitch is suddenly dumb though she has survived as the Alphas mate for centuries. I liked Leah better horrible. And the destruction of other characters to try to defend her was worthless.

Charles is a murderer, he killed a submissive without even talking to him and we all know submissive wolves can’t disobey dominant, and is a complete ass. That everyone is so terrified of him is getting old, aren’t dominates suppose to protect those weaker than they are? So why does everyone live in fear of him?

Bran is a pedophilia who at some point fell for a 2-16 year old. That is when Mercy lived in his pack. And if you are thinking I read to much into the story or that’s not what Patty meant, nope a Goodreads reviewer emailed her assistant and someone asked her during a signing. It’s exactly what she meant. Basically, everyone should have stopped asking for more on Bran and we got what was coming to us. Oh and he is suddenly too weak to handle problems in his own pack? Seriously..this is Bran now???

Then the rules of the world keep changing, Charles tells a story of how he couldn’t disobey his father because he’s alpha. Then Charles gets mad at another wolf for not disobeying his alpha. What? Literally the same thing. It’s like in this book Anna and Charles live by a different set of rules and judge people who do the exact same things that they did.

I thought that this might be a fluke, I know Patty has had some terrible emotional things happening but all the feedback I’m getting is it’s not, Mercy will never know but everything is true and it won’t be changed. This is a second series/author that I have followed for over 10+ years that I might be losing. I hope she changes her mind.

Books

Close Contact by Lori Foster

debra

Hey everybody,

Good to be back with you and I hope everyone has a terrific holiday season!

Ms. Foster has written another winner. I enjoy all her books but I am especially fond of the romantic suspense she has been writing in her last few series. Miles Dartman, the Legend in his MMA days, and Maxi, a great character, had a short-lived tryst a while back. Then Maxi disappears. Miles is not real happy about that, but such is life.

Maxi has had a lot of stuff happen lately. Most notably, she lost her grandma and inherited her grandma’s property and all the feral cats that went with it. Her siblings assumed she would sell it and they would get their part. Nope. She decides to keep it. However, someone is not happy about this decision. Maxi wakes up in Chapter 1 lying in the gravel and without any memories on how she got there. Interesting things are happening. She arrives at the Body Armor agency Miles works at asking for help. Sparks start flying.

The relationship between Miles and Maxi is great. Maxi really is a great character–a little quirky at times but I think she is fun even with her problems currently. Miles is determined to protect her and figure out who is trying to run her off her property. There are plenty of suspects to keep it interesting and I also really enjoyed seeing the other bodyguards from the agency (and the series) show up help. This is a story well-worth reading as are all of Ms. Foster’s books. There is a reason she is my favorite author. I can not wait for the next book featuring Brand and Sahara. There are questions to be answered in that book!!

Happy reading,

Debra