Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy eBook Box Sets

Some great Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Bestsellers are coming out in eBook Boxed sets from Simon & Schuster. If you are hot for Paranormal Romance and can't get enough eBooks you might want to take a look at these titles.

Paranormal Romance Set

Origins: First Books of Three Paranormal Bestsellers: Cole, Showalter, Kohler: A Hunger Like No Other, Awaken Me Darkly, Marked by Moonlight, with excerpts from their three latest novels!


Authors: Cole, KresleyShowalter, GenaKohler, Sharie
ISBN: 9781451652161
Price: $18.99 /Can $25.99 /Int'l $22.99
On Sale Now! Find out more.


THREE PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVELS IN ONE!

All first books in their series: A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER by Kresley Cole, AWAKEN ME  DARKLY by Gena Showalter, and MARKED BY MOONLIGHT by Sharie Kohler.

Also contain teasers from each author's latest novels:  DREAMS OF A DARK WARRIOR by Kresley Cole, DARK TASTE OF RAPTURE by Gena Showalter and  NIGHT FALLS  ON THE WICKED by Sharie Kohler.

Vampires

 Urban Fantasy Collection - Vampires: A Rush of Wings, Staked, Wicked Game
Author: Phoenix, AdrianLewis, J. F.Smith-Ready, Jeri
ISBN: 9781451652154
Price: $18.99 /Can $26.99 /Int'l $26.99
On Sale Now! Find out more.

Ebook collection of three urban fantasy novels: Rush of Wings, by Adrian Phoenix, Staked by J.F. Lewis, and Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready.

More Paranormal Romance!

Bestselling Highlanders, Howlers, and Heroes: Chapman, Mayhue, and Gideon: Secrets of the Highlander, Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband, Masked by Moonlight
Author: Chapman, Janet Mayhue, Melissa Gideon, Nancy
ISBN: 9781451652147
Price: $18.99 /Can $25.99 /Int'l $31.00
On Sale Now! Find out more.


THREE PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVELS IN ONE! 

Book box set of bestselling Highlanders, Howlers, and Heros: SECRETS OF THE HIGHLANDER by  Janet Chapman, THIRTY NIGHTS WITH A HIGHLAND HUSBAND by Melissa Mayhue, and  MASKED BY MOONLIGHT by Nancy Gideon.

TEASERS INCLUDED! This eBook anthology will also contain teasers from each authors' latest novel:
MYSTICAL WARRIOR by Janet Chapman, HIGHLANDER'S CURSE by Melissa Mayhue, and  BOUND BY MOONLIGHT by Nancy Gideon

Gena Showalter's Alien Huntress Series!

 Gena Showalter - The Alien Huntress Series: Enslave Me Sweetly, Savor Me Slowly, Seduce the Darkness
Author: Showalter, Gena
ISBN: 9781451651966
Price: $21.99 /Can $31.99 /Int'l $36.00
On Sale Now! Find out more.

This eBook anthology contains three books in Gena Showalter's bestselling "Alien Huntress" series

TEASER OF UPCOMING BOOK!
The eBook anthology will include a teaser of Gena's upcoming Alien Huntress novel, DARK TASTE OF RAPTURE (on sale 8/23/11)

PJ Review: Ascension (Dark Breed #1) by Sable Grace

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance
Paranormal Element: Everything! Mythology, Gods, Vampires, Shifters...
Series: Dark Breed #1
Order Online:  Amazon.com
Stalk the Author: Web | Twitter
Digital copy from Netgalley.com for Review

PJ's QUICKIE POV:
Ascension strikes fast, hits you hard as it thrusts you into a very dark world that had my imagination spinning. It wasn’t a world I want to visit anytime soon, either. Despite the darkness, I was quickly taken in, I wanted to find out more about this violent and scary place. There was so much going on in this novel, new breeds of paranormals, mixed races...it was quite fascinating. And then with the intermix of the Greek gods and goddesses I thought it might be too much, but it worked and made for one of the most creatively spun Urban Fantasy novel that I’ve read in awhile. The one drawback of the novel was that it really did drag towards the end of the novel. It was fast fast fast --- and then came to a screeching halt. It would have been PERFECT if it would have kept up that high intensity pace. And the thing about pace - if you don't get it right it will bring a good idea crashing.

REVIEW:
Kyana is half Vampyre, half Lychen a dark breed of an unholy joining for two species. Her kind, the dark breeds are overrunning the world after the gates of Hell opened and released madness into the world. Yet, Kyana has forced herself to step out of her kinds usual evil nature and joined the Order of Ancients to fight the dark breeds and protect the mortals. Kyana is highly ambitious and when she is given one of the most important missions of her career she sees it as a chance to prove herself. But, she is quickly deflated when she finds she’ll be paired with Ryker, a demigod who knows how to push all the wrong buttons where she is concerned. Together they team up, but with a lot of reservations, because there mission is a lot more important then their personal problems.

A highly imaginative Urban Fantasy. Ascension is over-run with uniquely formed paranormals. It had my head spinning. And on top of the crazy world-building the sexual tension between Kyana and Ryker was enough to have me salivating. It was one of those romantic episodes where you want to beat both their heads against the table and scream “Get it on already!” Those are always fun...but, Sable Grace took it to a whole new level. This is definitely one you should look out for.

Now for the not so fun parts. The dragging almost killed me, at some point I was ready to just put the book down. The anticipation was gone, because Kyana and Ryker had already somewhat settled their differences and then there was just so much more book to trudge through and clue finding and things like that. I also found the patsy rather convenient and I also found it hard to understand how different the dark breeds were from Kyana...I don’t think there was enough explanation. Was it just that if she drank human blood it would drive her to a crazy hunger that she couldn’t control? Then how did she stop in the first place? Besides that the book was an enjoyable read and highly creative (I keep saying that!). I can’t wait to see what Ms. Grace has in store for us next.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Recommended for fans of darker Urban Fantasy series like the series written by Kelly Gay and Jennifer Esteps. There is a lot of violence, bad language and sexual interaction in this novel, recommended for adults only.







Like this Like That

1. The Better Part of Darkness (Charlie Madigan, Book 1) by Kelly Gay
2. Bitter Nights by Diana Pharaoh Francis

Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead - Review

Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Fantasy Element: Fae
Series: Eugenie Markham, Dark Swan (Book 3)
Order Online:  Amazon.com | BookDepository.com
Stalk the Author: Web |  Blog | Twitter

ARC provided by Author in exchange for an honest review. 

WARNING!  This review will contain spoilers if you have not read the first two in the series. Please read my review of Storm Born & Thorn Queen, but don't judge, it was one of my first reviews.

PJVs QUICKIE POV:
I am torn. Ripped apart and splattered with what has just happened to me. It would seem that Ms. Mead has been taking notes from Karen Marie Moning on how to give her readers heart palpitations. All I can say is that I have never wanted to choke a fictional character so badly as I now want to choke and shake and slap Eugenie. But, I can't tell you why because it would be a total spoiler. So, here is some fluff. This is a great series. Urban Fantasy in it's finest. You must read it...and...if you are a fan of the series already, you should be running to your local book store and buying this one today. Don't even let them put it on the shelf...just grab it out of the shipping box.

REVIEW:
THORN QUEEN left us with Eugenie and Dorian on the brink of war. Katrice, ruler of the Rowan land did not liken to the fact that her son was murdered by Dorian and in retribution declared war on the Thorn Land and Eugenie. IRON CROWNED begins and the Otherworld is still in war. Dorian and Eugenie are fighting back Kartrice's forces and trying to minimize casualties at the same time. Most of Eugenie's time is spent in the Otherworld, she is showing acceptance of her life as Storm King's daughter and a fae ruler. She is also in love with Dorian and content in their relationship.

Eugenie is desperate to end the war though, and when an old seer approaches her with a quick way to accomplish this she is hard pressed to dismiss the idea. When Dorian backs it and suggest that she brings none other than Kiyo with her to accomplish this task...well she thinks she has to do this if it means an end to the war. Yet, it is dangerous and she doesn't even know if Kiyo will help her...can she talk him into going with her and if he goes, if they succeed does it mean the end of the war?

Yes, I know Kiyo is back! I can't get into it because of spoilers, but I can tell you that overall the book was well done. There were a lot of turns that I didn't expect and the whole thing left me with a sort of out-of-body experience. I didn't agree with Eugenie on most of the decisions she made throughout the novel (but this is usually the case with her - never agree until the end) but I think this is what makes the series so great. This is a person that is very different from me and my usual UF heroine and here I am all about her. It makes it great and frustrating and enjoyable because it is not the norm. Now, I'm desperately in need of book #4.

Are you thinking the same thing as I was? Kiyo? Kiyo? I thought we were done with him. So, here is my rant, and I shall hide it, because it is probably rife with spoilage...

I'm really rather aggravated with Eugenie's behavior. Just when I thought she had finally faced facts and was accepting her new position she goes and starts acting like an idiot. "You are a ruler of a Faerie Kingdom...act like a Queen and stop mucking around." Well, that is what I wanted to scream at her. I know it is hard to let go, I do. So, when Kiyo popped back in and Eugenie starts hiding in Tuscon again I just wanted to beat my head against the table and scream. I couldn't take it. I couldn't read about this and enjoy it. Especially when she knew the two-faced little slag was running back to his baby momma and reporting on everything she did! How could she do that? She'll take his two faced machinations over Dorian's power grabs? WTF? I just didn't get it. So, because of Eugenie's ridiculous behavior through the middle of the novel I feel like her character has gone down considerably in my estimations. I could understand how she clung to Dorian after her rape but then this? Dorian pisses you off so you run back to Kiyo immediately? I really don't like women that need a man to identify themselves. I guess this is the same problem I have with Rose from Mead's YA Vampire Academy series. Can't you be alone, for once? Maybe if Eugenie spent a little time by herself, she would figure out who Eugenie is, instead of Eugenie+Kiyo or Eugenie+Dorian and might be able to competently run her kingdom, because she knows exactly who she is and what she wants!!! I think she should invest in a toy and take a little time out from the male species.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
This is a mature novel, there are explicit sex scenes that are only suitable for adult audiences. Recommended for fans of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series.

You can also win a signed ARC of this book at the Paranormal Spring Break - right here on this blog! Yep! For the spreading of happiness through the land of bloggyville I have created these for you guys...even though I hope one of these is very rarely used. Paste the code in your sidebar - give me some credit if you love me XOXO












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BWB Adult review seleciton





How did PJ get this book?
Amazon.com

Purchase:

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BookDepository


 Stalk the Author:

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Rating:

Three Days to Dead by Kelly Meding

PJVs QUICKIE POV: The anticipation of this book was better than the actual experience. I was really looking forward to reading this one - probably the chick on the cover and that knife, she looks like she could kick my butt. Unfortunately expectations and delivery just didn't match and while Meding thought up a great Urban Fantasy world that was quite intense and had some good intricacies - it was just that her characters left me lacking because of the lack of emotional connections. It felt more like a recitation of facts and occurrences and not a story in the first person perspective.

REVIEW: In the world where Evangeline Stone lives there are goblins, vampires and halfies, along with a lot more creatures that go bump in the night. They hide themselves from the human population in general - but their is a group that knows of their existence and police them with ruthless justice and sadistic penalties. Evy is a part of the group, her team is called a Triad. It is made up of three "agents" and one handler. She loves her job, she's a killer, but from her perspective it is the right thing to do. Everything was on track in her violent life - until she has to kill her teammate and then ends up on the slab in the morgue...in someone else's body with just three days to live.

So begin's Chalice/Evy's fight for survival and attempt at proving herself innocent of her teammates death. It is a wild ride with monsters, vampires and trolls coming from all angles. There is even a smidge of romance thrown into the mix.  It had all the potential to be a very hard hitting, nail biting Urban Fantasy but to me it just fell flat.

My first take on the staleness of the novel was Wyatt the handler and romantic interest #1. He was a total pansy - which didn't have me liking him much. And what guy would have done this to his "girl"? Sell his free will for three more days with his dead love? That just struck me as completely selfish, moronic and irresponsible.

Then there was the weird Chalice might still be there or some kind of weird body memory that had her clinging to Alex and hot in the pants for Wyatt. It was odd, what was that about? I wanted to slap Evy for even going back to Alex - how could she have done that to him? That just struck me as selfish, moronic and irresponsible. For such a tough chick, you sure don't like to be alone - so you have to ruin someone's life completely just to have what...company? Yeah, basically this book was about two really freaking selfish people doing screwed up things that could put the entire world in jeopardy.

SPOILER

I really was hoping by the end that one of them would have just killed themselves - you know last unselfish act and all that.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Adults only, has a lot of nasty themes. Violence, rape, sexual encounters, cursing. This one reminded me of Kelly Gay's Better Part of Darkness, with the ridiculously strong female character and the woosified male characters.

Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong

Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong
Review copy provided by publisher.

Release date July 27th, 2010

PJVs QUICKIE POV: More of a Who-Done-It Mystery than Armstrong's usual UF leaning towards, PNR, Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld, Book 11) covers everyone's favorite juvenile delinquent, Savannah Levine. Highly engaging, action packed and full of leather-clad, kick-butt snark, the latest addition to Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series will not disappoint her fans. There were a few tid bits that left me a bit frustrated, but overall it was a great read and in fact enjoyed it more than some of the later WOTO books.

REVIEW: Savannah Levine is all grown up and ready to take on her first solo case. She's been dying to take a stab at it, but Paige, Lucas and Adam have been holding her back. With Paige and Lucas on a much needed vacation and Adam participating in a conference, their absence just might land Savannah her first gig, courtesy of Jesse a friend of Lucas' and a fellow PI.

The case takes her to the depressed town of Columbus, Washington, investigating the death of three women, shot to death and displayed in what would seem like a ritualistic murder.  Savannah's goal: find the killer. Things get a bit trickier though as more dead bodies start showing up and the prime suspect and his wife try to intimidate her through brute force and a little surprise magic of their own.

Following in the 10th installments footsteps {Frostbitten} Waking the Witch is all mystery and very little romance like most of Armstrong's other Otherworld novels tend to be. There is some hinting at a bit of romance, but in the end this is a mystery and you are there to follow Savannah as she solves her first case, not fall in love.


Hard-hitting and snarky, Savannah as a character did deliver with her prickly personality and reckless behavior. Yet, overall there was a bit of disappointment with her, some of which might hold a spoiler or two, so I will try and keep it light. For one, Savannah has always been an enigma to me, the product of some really sketchy parents and then the unlikely victim in a few instances, I do believe Savannah should be a little more twisted than how she is turning out. MHO. Yes, she doesn't obey all the rules, but I think I would believe a little emotional fallout with her, than what happens in Waking the Witch. I know Armstrong is capable of this, because of what she put Elena through (Bitten, Stolen...) in the beginning of the series. WW just seemed a little shallow, Savannah a lot more well-rounded than I would think possible. Secondly, the rehashing of the nemesis. I'll just say, that a new one might have been better played. And lastly, I feel the book was a bit drawn out and then it left you with a cliffhanger so-to-speak. It just seem forced and then the last minute HELLO to make you die to read the next book. I'm not saying I didn't like this book, I did. I went through it quickly...it was fast-paced and intriguing, there were just a few bits and pieces that I found gave the book a shallow feel when Armstrong can be so, well robust.  Fans should enjoy this - and I know a lot of people say they don't enjoy the ones that have Paige and Lucas in them...well have no fear, they only show up in a few phone calls.

RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that you read a few of the Otherworld series before you read Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld, Book 11).  You don't have to read all of them though. Some are relevant, such as: Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld, Book 4), Haunted (Women of the Otherworld, Book 5).

Hard Magic by Laura Anne Gilman

Hard Magic by Laura Anne Gilman
Review copy provided by NetGalley.com

Publisher: Luna (May 1, 2010)
Genre: Urban Fantasy

PJVs QUICKIE POV: An understated, investigative Urban Fantasy, with not as much bite as I would have liked, but with enough interesting tid-bits to keep me wanting more. Hard Magic is an original little gem in the Urban Fantasy genre. Set in the same world as Gilman's Retriever novels, it is a world rich with magic, paranormal creatures and political intrigue. If you are a fan of the genre you won't be disappointed in Gilman's books, whether it is this one or the Retriever series.

REVIEW: Bonita "Bonnie" Torres is a recent college graduate with no future from what she can tell. A million interviews and no job to show for it, she is at the end of her rope when an anonymous call summons her to a nondescript office building, a shabby waiting room and an office with a dead body on the floor.  So begins Bonnie's career with PUPI - Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations.

Intense training and long hours follows, until finally the team land their first case - and it is a doozy. An elderly couple, deeply involved with Council and very well-off are found dead from carbon-monoxide poisoning. The police and Council have written it off as suicide, but the deceased daughter is not convinced, so she hires PUPI.

The novel follows the investigation and goes into the finer details of how the team pairs their magical ability and CSI techniques. Dry at times, it does at points read like a technical manual, but the step by step processes of the investigation are very logical and it is hard imagining that this isn't possible.

The heroine is spunky and smart, but she doesn't have a death wish like a lot of UF heroines seem to have, and her sarcasm and wit aren't overpowering. She, like the novel are understated and a bit refined. Even the romantic entanglements were a bit understated, Bonnie seemed to lust after both the male and female cast of the novel, but nothing was really cinched down.  Once I thought it was going to lead romantically in one way, a new character stepped in and threw my romantic meter off completely.  But, this is how Gilaman's retriever novels are also.  If I remember correctly in those, the heroine doesn't "hook up" until almost 3 or 4 books into the series.

In essence a good novel, not the best I've read, but worth picking up. Especially if you like your UF with no romance and a lot of world building.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Adult fiction, but there is really nothing within the pages that would be something teens couldn't handle. Urban Fantasy fans will enjoy.  Fans of C.E. Murphy, Harry Dresden series, Rachel Morgan series, etc. should like this novel.